History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 84

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 84

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Mr. Morley is a charter member of the Humane Society, of Lake, of which he has been president for twenty-one years. This society has done effective service in its field. He has been identified with the Masonic fra- ternity for half a century, having become a member on the 22d of March, 1859. Worthy of reproduction, with slight paraphrase in this

connection, are the following statements from the pages of a Painesville newspaper :

"Temple Lodge, No. 28, Free and Accepted Masons, had a field day at its regular meeting Wednesday evening. In addition to its being the occasion of the annual inspection by the representative of the grand master, an event occurred which seldom happens. A few weeks ago the friends of Charles T. Morley discov- ered that March 22 would be the fiftieth an- niversary of his being made a Mason, and ac- cordingly they made plans for a fitting re- membrance of the same. These were carried out on Wednesday evening. A series of reso- lutions was prepared and the signatures of more than one hundred and thirty of Mr. Mor- ley's friends and acquaintances in Lake county appeared on the same in antograph. Besides this, the autograph signatures of Theodore Roosevelt and William H. Taft were secured, as were also those of many of the officials of the grand lodge and other prominent Masons of northern Ohio. These resolutions were prepared in fine form and were presented to Brother Morley, with appropriate remarks, by Everett J. House. In addition to this, Mr. Morley's friends had also purchased for him a beautiful past master's jewel, which was like- wise presented to him on this occasion.

The minutes of fifty years ago, when Mr. Morley was made a Mason, were then read by the secretary pro tem. of Willoughby Lodge, in which Mr. Morley was raised. He was taken completely by surprise and was deeply touched by these manifestations of re- gard, but, as usual, rose grandly to the occa- sion and expressed his deep appreciation and profound gratitude for these honors. During the recess Mr. Morley held a reception and received congratulations, a large number being present from all over the county, having been called together by these special ceremonies."

Mr. Morley holds membership in Dyer Post, No. 17, Grand Army of the Republic, in which he is a past commander.

On the 24th of December, 1856, was sol- emnized the marriage of Mr. Morley to Miss Imogene Randall, who was born in the state of New York, and whose home at the time of her marriage was in Chester township, Geauga county, Ohio, where her parents were early settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Morley had appro- priate observance of their golden anniversary in 1906. They have three children, concerning whom the following brief record is given :

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Frances E. is first assistant to the superintend- ent of nurses in the city hospital of Boston, Massachusetts; Charles W., who is engaged in business at Geneva, Ohio, married and has three children; and Flora is the wife of An- drew P. Pctah, a representative farmer of Hiram township, Portage county, Ohio, and they have four children.

THEODORE L. FRENCH .- The late Theodore L. French, who was for many years a prom- inent business man in Ashtabula county, repre- sented a family long established in Connecti- cut, the mother state of the Western Reserve. Joseph and Lucinda (Tod) French, his par- ents, were both natives of that commonwealth, his mother having been born in North Haven. The son received his education at the Grand River Institute and in 1854, while still a youth, joined the migrating gold seekers and spent four years in the mines of California and the Pacific Coast. Upon his return he engaged in business in Ashtabula county, largely devoting himself to stock brokerage, and in 1874 located on a farm in Austinburg township, where his son and daughter were reared and where his widow, with the former, still resides. Mr. French died on this homestead, endeared to the family by so many associations, on the Ist of March, 1906. In his religious belief he was a Unitarian, an honorable business man and agriculturist, a citizen of high character and a husband and father of sincere affection and constant thoughtfulness.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Theodore L. French (nee Helen M. Ryder) occurred at Austinburg, on the 24th of October, 1866, and resulted in the birth of a son and a daughter. Alfred Schuyler French, the elder, was born on the 31st of March, 1868, is unmarried and operates the home farm. Florence G., the daughter, was born December 4. 1869, and has held the position of assistant secretary at both the Cleveland Normal School and Lake Erie College. For six years she was an in- cumbent of the former and is still serving the Lake Erie institution.

Mrs. Helen (Ryder) French was born in Austinburg on the 9th of May, 1844, receiving. a district school education and a training at the Grand River Institute. For seven years prior to her marriage she was a successful teacher, and has always been recognized as a lady of rare intelligence, sound judgment and refined feminine character. Mrs. French is a grand-daughter of Samuel Ryder, a native of

New Hartford, Connecticut, who had been a farmer for some years when, in 1809, he bought a large tract of land and settled in the wilderness of Austinburg township, about half a mile south of the present village. There he farmed, kept the old toll gate near his home, and the house which he first built is still stand- ing in all the picturesqueness of its hundred years. Samuel Ryder was also a faithful mem- ber of the Presbyterian church, the first to be organized in the Western Reserve, and his every-day life was as Puritan-like as his re- ligion. He married Miss Naomi Hulbert, who bore him the following thirteen children : Sam- uel Jr., who married Hannah Ryder; Naomi, who became the wife of Eben Hickok of Jef- ferson, Ohio, and had three children, their son Edward now living in that place; Mary, who died unmarried in Wisconsin; Horace, who married Nancy Webb and lived in Austinburg ; Lydia, who became the wife of Durlin Hickok and the mother of three children; Louise, who married Dr. Raymond; Clarissa, who died in Michigan as the wife of Dr. Day and the mother of three children ; Frederick, who mar- ried Mary Payne, who bore him four children ; Henry G., who became the father of nine children ; Winthrop, who died young; Emme- line, who married Frederick Pierce and had three children; Betsy, who was the wife of John Walker and bore him three daughters; and Eunice, who married John B. Pierce, brother of Frederick mentioned above, and be- came the mother of three children.

Henry Grant Ryder, of this family, was born at New Hartford, Connecticut, in June of 1806 and died February 22, 1885. He ob- tained a district school education, engaged in various lines of work, and finally purchased ninety acres of land a mile and a half north- east of the village of Austinburg, which he fashioned into a good farm and homestead, first erecting a small frame house for the fam- ily residence and later providing a more com- fortable and commodious home. In connection with general farming he conducted a well- managed dairy and was altogether a thrifty and honorable citizen. He married Miss Ann French, a native of Northampton, Massachu- setts, and a daughter of Nathan French, also of that state, who removed with his family to Leroy, Lake county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Ryder became the parents of nine children, and all were born in Austinburg, as follows : Henry Martin, January 14, 1836, who was killed in the Civil war at the age of twenty-seven ; An-

Theo.d. French

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nette, born in March, 1837, who married C. C. Lukens and now resides in Tennessee; Cecil S., August 14, 1838, who married Miss Al- meda Sherman, of Jefferson, Ohio, to them was born one daughter, Annette; Brainard F., born in November, 1839, who married Laura Dean Ryder and had one son, Ralph H., who died at Natick, Massachusetts; Mary L., who was born in March, 1841, married J. R. King, of Lenox, and died in March, 1908; Alfred B., born in August, 1842, who was killed during the Civil war in August, 1864; Helen M., Mrs. Theodore L. French; Emily C., born in No- vember, 1845, who married Cyrus A. Green, of Austinburg, and bore him three children, Fred E., Idella and Henry R. Green ; and Charlotte E., who was born in April, 1847, married Henry Chaffee, of Jefferson, and died as a resi- dent of Kansas, mother of Ernest H. and Gaius WV. Chaffee. Mrs. Henry G. Ryder, the mother of this family, died at Lenox Center in No- vember, 1888, and her Christian patience and faithfulness are perpetuated in the generations of worthy men and women who have followed her.

RICHARD VAN BUREN TAYLOR, of Leroy township, was born December 23, 1836, on a farm adjoining the one he now occupies, and is a son of Jonathan and Mary (Martin) Tay- lor. His mother was a daughter of Richard Martin, who built a mill on Big Creek and operated it for many years. Jonathan Taylor was born in Pennsylvania, and when eight years of age came to Ohio with his parents. He died at Pine Hollow, in 1873, seventy-three years old. His widow, who was born in 1798, died in 1881, aged eighty-three years. They lived in Concord township some years, and about 1832 came to the farm in the woods, where Richard was born. They cleared the farm. which Richard purchased about 1870. Jonathan Taylor had six sons and five daugh- ters, who reached maturity. Of these, three sons and one daughter were living in 1909. Lucinda was the oldest child. Alonzo is a farmer, living at Lafayette, Wisconsin. Jona- than also lives in Wisconsin. William re- mained in Leroy township and died at the age of seventy years. Richard, William, Jonathan and John served in the Civil war, William and Jonathan served through the war, and John, who was in a regiment on the frontier, was wounded. William and Richard served in the Fourteenth Ohio Battery, under Captain J. B. Burrows, late a circuit judge.

Richard V. Taylor was with the battery until the battle of Pittsburg Landing, and was then wounded in both arms, one being hit with a piece of shell and the other with a musket ball in the forearm. After a furlough of sixty days he was discharged. He was also injured somewhat by the bursting of a cannon while in practice. After the war closed he moved to his present farm, assuming a debt of $2,000. He now owns about 152 acres, of which about seventy are in cultivation. He carries on the farm himself, and he is industrious and thrifty, and a good farmer. Mr. Taylor belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic. He voted for Lincoln and has since voted the Repub- lican ticket.

Mr. Taylor married, in 1863, Eliza, daugh- ter of William and Margaret Crane, the former a Manxman. She was born in Leroy town- ship. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor had one son and two daughters; they lost one daughter, Mary, at the age of eighteen years, she having been a teacher three years. One son, Adolphus, late of Cohoes, England, was a manufacturer and lived at Painesville; he died of pneumonia, February 13, 1909, at the age of forty-three. By his wife Martha he had two children, Elma and Mary, who with their mother, live with Richard V. Taylor. The third child, Gertie E., is the wife of David M. Davis, a farmer of Lerov, having a fine farm.

HORACE C. BABCOCK, a Ravenna township agriculturist, was born in Shalersville town- ship, Portage 'county, September 2, 1841, a son of Edwin B. and Alma (Hoskins) Bab- cock. The father, a son of Simon Babcock from Connecticut, was the first white child born in Hiram, Ohio, his parents having lo- cated there as early as 1800. After his mar- riage he located on a tract of wild timber land in Shalersville township, to which he had to cut a road through the dense forest, but with the passing. years he cleared his land and con- verted it into a valuable farm, owning 400 acres at the time of his death. He died on the Ioth of November, 1897, and his wife died on the 14th of February, 1846. Their union was blessed by the birth of six children, and by the father's second marriage to Amelia B. Crane he had two children.

Horace C. Babcock, the fourth born of the first family, resided with his parents and as- sisted them on the farm until his marriage, on the 2d of March, 1871, to Luthera Welton, who was born in Ravenna township May 16,

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1845, a daughter of Isaac and Unice P. (Oviatt ) Welton, the father born in Wolcott- ville, Connecticut, and the mother in Hudson, Ohio, and he was a son of Erastus and Nab- bie (Church) Welton, from Connecticut, and she a daughter of John and Hannah ( Sher- man) Oviatt. Isaac Welton came to Stowe, in Summit county, Ohio, in 1838, where he became a farmer, although in Connecticut he followed watch-making, and he was the first milk peddler in Ravenna. He bought a tract of land just northwest of Ravenna, on which in 1832 had been built a fine brick residence, and there he died on the 16th of February, 1888. He was born on the 25th of August, 1806. His wife died there on the 16th of August, 1886. There were three children in their family: Emily, the widow of James T. Riddle, and a resident of Kittanning, Penn- sylvania ; Lucretia, who became the wife of George Strickland and died on the 30th of De- cember, 1907 ; and Luthera, a twin of Lucretia, who became the wife of Mr. Babcock.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Babcock resided with her parents until they moved to his farm of eighty-three acres in Shalersville township, on the 23d of November, 1872. But on the 22d of March, 1904, they left that place and returned to her parents' old homestead, of which her share consisted of twenty acres. This fine old home is filled with many interest- ing relics of former years, including the old flax and spinning wheels used by her mother in the pioneer days, and a woolen carpet that the mother made back in the days of 1855 is still in use. Mr. Babcock rents his farm in Shalersville. The one son of this union is Frank W. Babcock, a stationary engineer in Ravenna. The family are identified with the Disciple church, and Mr. Babcock, in politics a Republican, has served his township as a road supervisor and as a school director.

FRED PORTMAN, a prominent farmer of Hen- rietta township, Lorain county, Ohio, was born April 25, 1855. He is a son of John and Anna Rubi Portman, and the youngest of their fam- ily of six children. John Portman was born in Switzerland, in 1837, and his wife was born in 1838; they came to Lorain county and pur- chased, in 1869, the farm which is still in the family, and there spent the remainder of their lives.

After the death of his father, in 1889, Fred Portman took charge of the farm, which he has since successfully carried on. He is a Re-

publican in politics and a member of the Ger- man Methodist church. He is actively inter- ested in public affairs, and an enterprising, useful citizen.

Mr. Portman married, October 5, 1880, Mary, daughter of Michael and Margaret (Stahl) Geissendoerfer, both born in Beiren, Germany, the former June 17, 1827, and the latter August 17, 1831. Mr. Geissendoerfer and his wife came to America in 1855, and settled first. in Rockport, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, where they took up land and resided there until 1871, when they located in Henri- etta, and there Mr. Portman and his wife be- came parents of seven children, all of whom have received common school educations ; they are : Lydia Anna, John Walters, Esther Lena (wife of Edward B. Haueisen ), Ernest Victor, Elmer S., Paul Erhart, and Jesse Herold.

H. R. LOOMIS .- As one of the representa- tive younger members of the bar of his native county and as the able and popular incum- bent of the office of mayor of the city of Ra- venna, there is all of consistency in according recognition to Mr. Loomis in this publication, but, farther than this, such consideration is due also on the score that he is a scion of one of the honored pioneer families of the Western Reserve, and in both the paternal and mater- · nal lines is a representative of families founded in America in the early colonial epoch of our national history. He has gained no insignifi- cant precedence in the practice of his exact- ing profession, and as the chief executive of the municipal government of Ravenna has well justified the wisdom of the electors of the city whose franchise brought to him this gratifying official preferment.

H. R. Loomis was born on the homestead farm in Randolph township, Portage county, Ohio, on the 24th of September, 1880, and is a son of Harris J. and Susan (France) Loomis, both of whom were likewise born in Portage county. Harris J. Loomis was reared and educated in this county and during his entire active career was successfully identified with agricultural pursuits. He became the owner of a well improved and valuable landed estate in Randolph township and was a citizen ever honored in his native county, where he wielded no slight influence in connection with public affairs in his community. He served as township assessor and land appraiser, and was a stanch supporter of the cause of the Repub- lican party. He died in the very prime of his

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strong and useful manhood, having been forty- five years of age at the time of his demise. He was a son of Harlow Loomis, who was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and who was a scion of stanch old English stock. The family was founded in America in 1639, and the name has been prominently identified with the an- nals of New England, where was cradled so much of our national history, while in later generations representatives have been found in the most diverse sections of the Union. Har- low Loomis came to the Western Reserve of his native state in 1818, and became one of the sterling pioneers of Portage county, where he took up his abode in that year. He secured a tract of government land in Randolph town- ship and there reclaimed a farm from the primeval forest. Here both he and his wife passed the residue of their lives, and their names merit an enduring place on the roll of the worthy pioneers who laid the foundations upon which has been reared the magnificent superstructure of opulent prosperity in the beautiful old Western Reserve.

Mrs. Susan (France) Loomis, has passed her entire life in Portage county and still re- sicles on the fine old homestead farm in Ran- dolph township. She is a daughter of Henry France, who was a native of Stark county, Ohio, and who became one of the early settlers of Portage county, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until the close of his long and useful life. His lineage was of English origin, and the family was early founded in Pennsylvania, whence came the original rep- resentatives of the name of Ohio. Harris J. and Susan (France) Loomis became the par- ents of four children, all of whom are living, as follows: Zoa is the wife of Edward R. Har- ris, of Cleveland; Maud and Clyde remain with their widowed mother on the old home- stead ; and H. R., of this review, is the young- est of the number.

The present mayor of the city of Ravenna passed his boyhood days on the home farm and his early educational discipline was se- cured in the public schools of his native town- ship. In 1897 he was matriculated in the Ohio Northern University, at Ada, where he com- pleted a course in the literary and scientific department and was graduated as a member of the class of 1900, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. In the autumn of 1901 he entered the law department of the Western Reserve University, in the city of Cleveland, and was duly admitted to the bar in December, 1903.

Mr. Loomis' novitiate in the active work of his profession was of comparatively brief dura- tion, for he soon gained recognition as an able advocate and well fortified counselor. Soon after his graduation in the law school he opened an office in Ravenna, and in this city he has since been engaged in practice. He has been successful in his profession and his clientage is of a representative order.

The able lawyer and popular native son was soon brought forward for office of public trust, since he was first elected mayor of Ra- venna in the autumn of 1905, only two years after establishing his home in the city to whose chief executive office he was thus called. The distinction is in itself one of no slight signifi- cance, and also offers unmistakable evidence of the personal popularity of Mr. Loomis in the community. His administration was thor- ough, progressive and businesslike during his first term, and the popular verdict placed upon his efforts was shown in his election as his own successor in the fall of 1907. His second term will expire January 1, 1910. Mayor Loomis is a stalwart in the camp of the Republican party, and is one of the vital and enthusiastic workers in its cause. He was chairman of the Republican central committee of Portage county during the campaign of 1908, and mar- shaled the forces at his command with much discrimination and finesse. He is affiliated with the local lodge and chapter of the Ma- sonic fraternity, and also the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Foresters, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

ALFRED E. BUTLER, a well-known business man of LaGrange townsip, and prominent in the official life of Lorain county, comes of a leading New England family of stanch old English descent. The first American ancestor was Richard Butler, who came from Braintree, England, and in 1632 settled at Cambridge, Massachusetts. The town records show that he was made a freeman two years after, and that in 1635 he formed a company for the set- tlement of Hartford, Connecticut. A deacon of the first church of that place, grand juror and selectman for several years, repeatedly a member of the general assembly of the col- ony, all the facts go to show that he was a man of high moral standing and citizenship. By his marriage to Elizabeth Bigelow he be- came the father of three children, himself pass- ing away on the 6th of August, 1684.

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The line of descent toward Alfred E. touches successively Nathaniel, William and John, the last named marrying Sarah Foster, daughter of Edwin Foster, of Middletown, Connecticut, on the 3rd of December, 1728. There were nine children of that union, Com- fort being born November 16, 1743, and dying February 19, 1826; his son Asa became the grandfather of Alfred E., of this sketch.

Rev. Asa Butler was born in Wallingford, Connecticut, on the 13th of August, 1778. and in March, 1817, was licensed to preach in the Baptist church of his native town. In October of that year he moved to Worcester. New York, and in September. 1823, was called to ordination by the First Baptist church of that place. Mr. Butler was twice married- first to Orpha Hall, daughter of Hezekiah and Elizabeth Hall, of Wallingford, Connecticut, on the 9th of October. 1805. She died August 26, 1824, and on the 29th of September, 1825. he wedded Betsey Lord, daughter of Marvin Lord, of Lyme, Connecticut. Eight children were born of the first union, of whom four reached adult age; of the latter. Rosander Hall Butler, father of Alfred E., was the eldest.

Rosander H. Butler was a native of Hart- ford, Connecticut, born July 20, 1806, and on April 28, 1835, he married Harriet Wright, daughter of Deacon Orange Wright, the cere- mony occurring at Worcester, Otsego county, New York. The father spent his life in his native county as a farmer, a carpenter and a citizen of high repute and public prominence. He was a man of quite remarkable informa- tion and a leading Republican of his county. Fourteen children were born to him, of whom five sons and five daughters reared families of their own. Mr. Butler's death occurred in New York March 19, 1878. his widow surviv- ing him until February 25, 1885, when she passed away, in her sixty-eighth year.

Alfred E. Butler, who was born in Worces- ter. New York, on the 19th of November, 1849, was educated in the district schools of his native county, and resided at home until he reached his majority. In 1870 he com- menced work on a neighboring farm, and in January, 1872, located in LaGrange township and obtained employment in a saw mill which was operated by an uncle. There and in a similar line he continued for about fifteen years, but in 1887 purchased a furniture and undertaking business at LaGrange, which he operated for another fifteen years. Mr. Butler then closed out the furniture branch, but has

continued the undertaking business to such good purpose that he is the leader in that line in this part of the county.

Mr. Butler has also been prominent in the local government, having served as a council- man for two terms, village marshal for a like period and as constable, truant officer, and in other capacities which mark him as a citizen of earnest purpose and usefulness to his home community. He is closely affiliated with the F. & A. M., K. of P. and K. O. T. M. of La- Grange. In politics he is a Republican, and in his professional capacity is a member of the State Funeral Directors' Association.

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History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 84

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