USA > Ohio > History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107
Mrs. Betsey (Waterman) Crafts, mother of William H., was born in Auburn township, Geauga county, Ohio, and her parents, who came to Ohio from the state of New York, were numbered among the very early settlers of the Western Reserve. She was a daugh- ter of Curtis and Betsey (Thayer) Waterman, who continued to make their home in Geauga county until they were summoned to the life eternal. She herself was eighty-five years of age at the time of her demise, and. her mem- ory is revered by all who came within the sphere of her gentle and gracious influence. She was a zealous member of the Methodist church. The only child was William H., whose name initiates this review.
In 1853 Elisha Crafts removed with his family from Geauga county to Portage county, where he and his wife passed the residue of their long and signally useful lives. At the time of this removal William H. was a child of four years, and he was reared to maturity on the old homestead farm, in Mantua town- ship, in whose work he early began to lend his quota of assistance, the while he duly availed himself of the advantages of the dis- trict school in the neighborhood of his home. Thereafter he continued his studies for a time in Hillsdale College, at Hillsdale, Michigan, after which he was matriculated in Hiram College, one of the historic old institutions of the Western Reserve, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1869. He early manifested a distinctive predilection for practical business, as is evident when we revert to the fact that when but thirteen years of age he began buying calfskins for a firm in the eastern states. He thus employed his
time during a portion of his school vacation, and he gave evidence of that acumen which later conserved his success as one of the repre- sentative business men of the fine old Western Reserve. He continued to represent the east- ern concern in the buying of calfskins and built up a satisfactory business while still a youth. In 1876, when but twenty-seven years of age, he made a trip to Boston in company with his employer, whom he succeeded as buyer for the states of New York, Pennsyl- vania, Ohio and Michigan. It is worthy of record that in a single year he purchased four hundred thousand calfskins in the territory assigned to his control. In 1878 he began buying beef hides for the firm of Webster & Company, of Boston, with which concern he continued to be thus identified until 1880, when he instituted the buying and shipping of hides on his own responsibility. Under these conditions he gained precedence as the most extensive buyer in the state of Ohio, and it may well be understood that his opera- tions were of wide scope. His careful man- agement and thorough knowledge of the busi- ness made his venture one of distinctive suc- cess, and he also built up a large and prosper- ous enterprise as a buyer and shipper of wool. He maintains an active supervision of his various capitalistic interests, which are large and of important order. He was one of the founders of the private banking house of Crafts, Hine & Company, of Mantua, in 1885, and he continued as senior member of this firm until 1894, when the bank was consol- idated with the First National Bank, in which he is a large stockholder and of whose direc- torate he is a member.
Liberal and public-spirited as a citizen, Mr. Crafts has long been a dominating factor in local affairs of a public nature, and he has been a leader in the ranks of the Republican party in Portage county. He was a member of the board of education of Mantua for eighteen years, and did much to further the work and make proper provision for the same in this village, where the present fine school building was erected during his incumbency of the position noted. He bought the first lot for and assisted in the erection of the first church edifice in Mantua, that of the Method- ist church, and after this building was de- stroyed by fire he had charge of the building of the new edifice. He is a member of this church and active in its work and support, as is also Mrs. Crafts.
754
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
Mr. Crafts served three terms as a member of the state legislature, in which he repre- sented Portage county with marked discrim- ination and effectiveness. He was first elected int 1899, and his subsequent elections were in 1901 and 1903. He has the distinction of being the first and only man to have thus rep- resented Portage county for three terms in the legislature. During his first term he served as a member of the finance committee of the house, and during his last two terms he had the chairmanship of this important committee. He also served as a valued mem- ber of the emergency board of the state, of which he was secretary and of which the gov- ernor was chairman. As a member of the legislature he was an earnest worker and did much to promote wise legislation. A number of important bills were presented by him and under his able championship came to enact- ment. He was the candidate of his party for the office of state treasurer in 1908, but was defeated. In 1904 he was nominee for repre- sentative of his district in congress.
On December 28, 1869, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Crafts to Miss Augusta M. Merriman, whose death occurred June 26, 1903, and who is survived by five children- Ethel M., Belle M., Harry W., James G. and Lucius M. March 22, 1905, Mr. Crafts was united in marriage to Miss Katherine Oren, and they have one son, Oren W. .
Mr. Crafts is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and its adjunct, the Order of the Eastern Star, and also with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Royal Ar- canum. He has been one of the most prom- inent upbuilders of his home village, and has in manifold ways contributed to its material and civic progress. He has so ordered his course as to retain the confidence and good will of those with whom he has come in con- tact, and he stands as one of the representa- tive citizens of the county in which he has so long maintained his home and in which he has gained definite success through his well directed efforts.
THOMAS M. PARKER, JR .- Well entitled to consideration in a publication of this province is Thomas M. Parker Jr., who is one of the representative business men of the younger generation in the city of Akron, where he is president of the Summit Lumber Company & Building Company.
Mr. Parker was born in Akron in 1869,
and is the only son of Thomas M. and May E. ( Wellington) Parker. His father, who is vice-president and general manager of the Summit Lumber Company & Building Com- pany, was born in Kent county, Delaware, in 1837, and was there reared to manhood. In 1867 he came to Ohio and took up his resi- dence in Akron, where he engaged in the work of his trade, that of carpenter, and where he eventually became one of the leading con- tractors and builders of this section. In 1897 he organized the company of which he is now vice-president and general manager, and the enterprise, under his able and practical super- vision, has grown to be one of important or- der. The planing mill which is operated in connection with the general lumber business is thoroughly modern in all its equipments and accessories, and here are turned out all kinds of building materials, including interior finishings of the highest type. For a number of years Thomas M. Parker, Sr., was asso- ciated in business with his brother, John Parker, and after the death of the latter, in 1907, the business was reorganized and the present corporate title was adopted. At the time of this reorganization Thomas M. Parker, Jr., became president of the company, which is incorporated for fifteen thousand dollars ; Thomas M. Parker, Sr., became vice-president and general manager ; and William H. Mantz, secretary. The .concern carries at all times a large and select stock of hard and soft wood lumber and general building supplies, and the extensive yards of tlie company are located on the canal, so that the best of shipping facilities are available. The marriage of Thomas M. Parker, Sr., to Miss May E. Wellington was solemnized in 1863. She was born in the state of Maryland, a daughter of James B. Welling- ton, and her death occurred in 1892. Mr. Parker, Sr., has been identified with active business affairs in Akron for more than forty years, and here has ever retained a strong hold upon popular confidence and esteem. He still gives his active supervision to the concern of which he is vice-president, and his long and practical experience make him a most valuable factor in its large and varied operations.
Thomas M. Parker, Jr., gained his early educational training in the public schools of Akron, and he then became associated with his father in his operations as a contractor and builder. Of his connection with the present company sufficient mention has been made in foregoing paragraphs. He is a young man
Roma Curdy
755
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
of progressive ideas and excellent executive ability, and he gives his undivided attention to the business of the company of which he is president. He is an appreciative member of Akron Lodge, No. 363, Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks.
In 1897 Thomas M. Parker, Jr., was united in marriage to Miss Lydia Clark, daughter of Isaac Clark, a prominent business man of Portsmouth, Ohio, and they enjoy marked popularity in connection with the social activi- ties of their home city. They have no children.
ROBERT MCCURDY .- In the death of Robert McCurdy, at his home in Youngstown, March 25, 1904, that community lost one of its ablest citizens and most successful financiers. He was a fine type of that class of men who may almost be considered characteristic products of the last century-men who spent the early years of their career in Youngstown and, by the force of their industry and integrity, pushed themselves into such leadership that the largest resources of business were en- trusted to them. As president of the First National Bank of Youngstown for more than a quarter of a century, Mr. McCurdy directed one of the most important institutions of northern Ohio, and was able to influence and promote the welfare of his city and county in many and varied activities.
Born at Castle Finn, County Donegal, Ire- land, June 24, 1842, and brought to the United States when eleven months of age, the boy was reared on a farm in Mahoning county. While his tender years were accompanied by some advantages in the Youngstown public schools, he was obliged to become self-support- ing at a very early age, thereby forming those habits of industry and economy which were characteristic of the boyhood of those who be- came successful business men in the nineteenth century. In August, 1861, he became an em- ploye of the old Mahoning County Bank. He eagerly and intelligently performed many du- ties which would be contemptuously stamped by the modern youth as "beneath him." But his faithfulness and solid business traits did not escape the notice of many citizens of Youngstown who were in a position to push his fortunes, and when the First National Bank was organized, on June 2, 1863, he received a regular clerkship in that institution. On June 20, 1865, he was promoted to be cashier, and thus, for a number of years, was an active and important factor in the management of
the bank. As the result of a re-organization, effected in 1877, he was elected president, and from that year until his death guided and strengthened its affairs. The most solid re- sources and policies of the bank were largely formed under his administration, and continue today as the firm basis of one of Ohio's oldest national banks.
Aside from the institution to which he gave the best years and efforts of his career, Mr. Mc- Curdy was interested in various industries and business matters which have made Youngs- town an important commercial and manufac- turing center. Almost the only interruption to his banking career from its commencement in August, 1861, to the time of his death in 1904, was caused by his short military experience of the Civil war. As a member of the One Hun- dred and Fifty-fifth Ohio Infantry, he enlisted for service in the Union army, but after cam- paigning in Virginia for three months he was stricken with typhoid fever and discharged for disability.
From early manhood Mr. McCurdy was a member of the First Presbyterian church of Youngstown, and served it well in such ca- pacities as Sunday school teacher, clerk of the session and elder, holding the latter office for twenty-six years before his death. In the ef- forts by which a community raises itself in moral and intellectual life, his memory will always be most signally identified with the Young Men's Association, the Reuben Mc- Millan Public Library Association and the Rayen School. In 1869 he became a member of the first committee that met to organize a branch of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation, and throughout the remainder of his life he maintained an enthusiastic interest in its advancement, serving as its president for five consecutive years. At the time of his de- cease he was one of the trustees of the Reuben McMillan Public Library Association, and it was chiefly through his efforts that Youngs- town acquired its fine library. From 1877 until his death he was also one of the trustees of the Rayen School, and to him is largely due the high educational standard for which this institution is noted throughout eastern Ohio. Of his contributions in time and means to the cause of charity and other worthy objects, no record can be given, for, although the com- munity recognized him as a generous man it also honored him as an unostentatious one. In politics he was an active Republican, working both as a campaigner and a delegate to party
756
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
conventions. As to his general personality, it was strong both in mentality and manly vir- tues, caused men to respect and admire him, and brought them around him as a leader.
A few facts about the family life of Robert McCurdy will complete this sketch of good intentions but imperfect execution. His father was Dr. Robert McCurdy, who came to Amer- ica in 1843 and settled on a farm near Crab creek, Mahoning county. There he practiced his profession and cultivated his land, in order to provide his wife and eight children with the necessities and many of the comforts of life. The two of these children who still sur- vive are Dr. John and Samuel H. McCurdy.
On the 19th of September, 1878, Robert Mc- Curdy married Miss Isabella Porter, a daugh- ter of the late William Porter. The three children of this union are as follows : Florence, now Mrs. Charles Hart, of Chester, Pennsyl- vania; Robert H., secretary of the Delaware River Steel Company, at Chester, Pennsylva- nia; and Isabel, who is the wife of J. L. Gran- din, of Boston, Massachusetts. Mrs. Isabella McCurdy, the widow, occupies the family residence at 726 Wick avenue, Youngstown, and is a lady of cultured and charitable char- acter, who has always been in heartfelt sym- pathy with moral and religious movements and, like her deceased husband, a practical worker for the real betterment of the community by which she is so deeply respected.
ALVIN SCHRAMLING .- A retired farmer, pleasantly passing the sunset years of his life in the village of Jefferson, is a fine representa- tive of the agricultural community of Ashta- bula county, and holds a noteworthy position among its most respected citizens. He was born May 9, 1828, in Rutledge, Cattaraugus county, New York, a son of David D. and Catherine (Schramling) Schramling, who were second cousins. His parents removed from New York, their native state, to Warren county, Pennsylvania, in 1835, and thereafter resided in that state. Their ancestors were among the earlier settlers of the Mohawk Val- ley, and at a later date were pioneers of Otsego county.
During the French and Indian war a family named Schnouts, living on the Mohawk river, were all massacred with the exception of one young lad, who was taken to Canada by his captors. Returning to his old home after an absence of two years, he found many articles that had been buried, among them being a
wooden bowl, which is now in the possession of Mr. Alvin Schramling. This boy settled in Otsego county, New York, and was the father of Ann Schnouts, who married Daniel Schramling, a brother of David D. Schramling, and uncle of Alvin.
Going with the family to Pennsylvania in 1835, Alvin Schramling remained there until 1853, when he came to Ohio to live. He was a carpenter, joiner and millwright and oper- ator, being skilled in all of these trades. Set- tling on land in Pierpont township, he began the improvement of a farm, and at the same time, taking advantage of the water power on his property, he built a small factory and be- gan the manufacture of revolving hay rakes, to be drawn by horse power. In this line of industry he built up quite a business, making about five hundred rakes a year, and in addi- tion to selling these at wholesale put agents on the road. Leaving the farm in 1861, Mr. Schramling built a saw mill in Pierpont Cen- ter, and at the beginning of the great oil ex- citement in Mecca, Trumbull county, went there as a prospector, and sank a well, but was not successful in his venture. He then went back to his farm, bought additional land, and resumed his agricultural labors. He was quite prominent in military circles, serving for some time as captain of the Pierpont Battalion of Militia. In 1864 he enlisted in Company K, One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry, and was elected second lieu- tenant of his company, which he had helped organize. As lieutenant he was often on de- tached service, having charge of a squad of men, once being sent to guard cattle in Chatta- nooga ; once being detailed to cut the railroad ; and once being sent to guard the first boat sent up the Cape Fear river with supplies for the refugees. Subsequently Mr. Schramling was with his regiment in Greensboro, North Caro- lina, until receiving his discharge from the service, the 26th of June, 1865.
Returning .to Pierpont township, Mr. Schramling continued his agricultural labors, from time to time buying more land, until he had a valuable farm of three hundred acres, one of the finest in point of improvements and equipments of any in the neighborhood. In 1897, having, by means of skilful and judi- cious labor, wise foresight and good invest- ments, acquired a handsome competency, Mr. Schramling moved to Jefferson, where he is living retired from active business.
Mr. Schramling married, in Warren county,
757
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
Pennsylvania, January 1, 1850, Delilah Rob- bins, a native of that county, and to them three children were born, namely: Cassius Lee, who died in 1878; May, who married Alvah Kin- ney, died in 1878, and Catherine, wife of Ed- gar Williams. Mrs. Williams, who lives with her father, has three children, namely: Alvin William, Edgar L., and Edna. The sons live on the home farm, managing it with charac- teristic success, and Edna, a graduate of the Pierpont High School, teaches in the Pierpont Central High School. Mrs. Delilah Schram- ling died in 1878, about the same time that her son and daughter passed away. Mr. Schram- ling married second Mrs. M. C. (Latimer) Moore. She was born in Canada, and died, April 8, 1907, at their cottage in St. Peters- burg, Florida, where they had spent a number of winters. Mr. Schramling served as town- ship trustee several years, rendering appreci- ated service. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, in which he takes great interest.
ELIJAH ALLEN WARD merits consideration in this publication by reason of the fact that he was one of the sterling and honored pio- neers of the Western Reserve and one who did much to conserve the industrial and civic progress and development of Lake county. He was a resident of the village of Willough- by, this county, at the time of his death. He was summoned to the life eternal at the age of seventy-eight years, and his devoted wife, who survived him by about two years, was likewise seventy-eight years old when she passed forward to that "undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns.'
Elijah Allen Ward was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and in the old Bay state he was reared to maturity, receiving a common-school education. At the age of twenty-one years, about the beginning of the second decade of the nineteenth century, he came to the wilds of the Western Reserve, in company with the Cornings and Vialls, who were numbered among the first settlers of Mentor, Lake county. Mr. Ward purchased a tract of heav- ily timbered land in Willoughby township and there instituted the reclamation of a farm. His old homestead was widely known in the early days as the "Stage House," being a stopping place on one of the pioneer stage routes, but not a tavern or inn. This house was located in the little hamlet of Willoughby, which vil- lage had been founded a few years before his
arrival in the county. After establishing his home in Ohio Mr. Ward sent for his venerable parents, and thereafter he provided for them as well as his sisters. His affection for his mother was one of the most dominant traits in his character, and he was determined to provide for this loved and venerated woman the best possible home and comforts. His father was a man of no little austerity and of deep religious zeal, and it may well be under- stood that while he had the respect and high regard of his children he did not hold their heart-love, as did the gentle and devoted mother.
At the age of forty years Elijah A. Ward was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Ann Carroll, daughter of John Carroll, the maiden name of whose wife was Wirt. John Carroll was a pioneer farmer of Concord township, Lake county, and his wife's father, Jacob Wirt, was practically the first settler of the present village of Willoughby, where he erected a mill. He secured a thousand acres of land in Lake county, having been a man of means at the time of taking up his resi- dence in Ohio and having been the owner of a number of slaves, whom he brought with him to the new home.
After his marriage Elijah A. Ward located on the farm now owned and occupied by his son Joseph A., one-half mile east of the vil- lage of Willoughby. The house originally occupied was finally removed from its first location, in order to permit the construction of the line of Nickel Plate Railroad through the farm, and the house is now owned by Mrs. Ellen Hill, daughter of the subject of this memoir. Mr. Ward here owned about 400 acres of land and he developed a valuable farm from the forest. The farm was eventu- ally much cut up by the lines of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern and the Nickel Plate railroads and he sold a considerable por- tion of his landed estate a number of years prior to his death. He was a man of energy, keen mentality and sterling integrity of pur- pose. He was liberal and public-spirited as a citizen and did much to aid in the upbuilding of the village of Willoughby. He became one of the founders and trustees of Willoughby Institute, to which he contributed $1,000, and later he gave an equally liberal support and encouragement to Lake Erie College, which was finally removed from Willoughby to Painesville, the county-seat. The Willoughby Institute was conducted successfully until the
758
HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
time of the Civil war, when the greater num- ber of its students withdrew to go forth in defense of the Union. The building erected in Willoughby for Lake Erie College is now utilized as the public high school of the vil- lage.
Mr. Ward continued to reside on his fine old homestead farm until within a few years prior to his demise. He passed the closing years of his life in the village of Willoughby, where he occupied the substantial old brick residence erected by Dr. Allen, who was one of the early members of the faculty of the Western Reserve Medical College, then lo- cated in Willoughby. This residence con- tinued to be the abode of Elijah A. Ward un- til his death, and here also his wife died. Both were devout members of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and their lives were replete with kindly deeds and gracious consideration for their fellow men. No resident of the community commanded more implicit confi- dence and esteem, and now that he "rests from his labors" it is fitting that in this publication be given recognition of his worthy life and worthy deeds. Of his children the following brief record is given: Victoria died when a young woman, as did also Melinda; Ellen is the wife of Charles Hill, of Willoughby, and they have one son, Raymond, who was gradu- ated in the University of Ohio as a member of the class of 1909 and who is an architect by profession ; Anna is the wife of Nathan C. Smith, station agent for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad at Willoughby : Joseph A., who remains on the old homestead farm, is individually mentioned on other pages of this work ; and John C., who is county en- gineer of Lake county, maintains his home in Painesville.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.