History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 97

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 97

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to some extent of dairying, milking a number of cows, and selling the products of his dairy in Cleveland.

Mr. Clark married, in 1891, Alicia Witter, a daughter of William and Sarah (Huntley) Witter, early settlers of Medina county, and they have five children, namely : Arthur S., Howard C., Harriet E., Eleanor E., and May A. Politically a Republican, Mr. Clark has served a number of terms as township trustee, and as a member of the local school board. He and his family are members of the First Congregational church.

JOHN J. SHREADER, of Ravenna township, Portage county, was born in Hesse Cassel, Germany, July 19, 1840, a son of John H. and Anna Barbara (Hammer) Shreader, also from Hesse Cassel. In the summer of 1846 the family set sail for the United States, and, locating in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the father worked as a weaver there until his death in 1898. His widow had died in April, 1874, at the home of her son John in Ravenna township, Portage county, Ohio. There were four children in their family, namely: Mary, now Mrs. Becker, a widow, living in Ravenna ; John J., mentioned below ; Conrad, who died in 1891; and Elizabeth, who was born on the ocean, and became the wife of Thomas Clear- water, of Industry, Portage county, Ohio.

John J. Shreader, when nine years of age, went with his mother to Pittsburg, Pennsyl- vania, and in the spring of 1851 the mother with all her children came via the canal to Ravenna, Ohio, where the son John began work at farming .. Continuing that line of work until sixteeen years of age, he was there- after, until the winter of 1860, employed in a brick yard, while during that winter he at- tended grammar school in Ravenna. On the 17th of April, 1861, he enlisted in Cotter's Artillery at Ravenna, and, going to West Vir- ginia, the command took part in its first en- gagement. On the 6th of September they were reorganized into Battery A, and com- manded by Captain Goodspeed and later by Captain Scovill. After reorganization they were sent to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, under General Sherman, and Mr. Shreader also served under Rosecrans and others, taking part in thirty-six battles and engagements, includ- ing those of Shiloh, Stone River, Chicka- mauga, Dallas, the Atlanta campaign, and others of note.

In September, 1861, his command was re-

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enlisted for three years, and they served until the close of the war, receiving their discharge on the 3Ist of July, 1865. During all that time Mr. Shreader was never wounded, and although taken prisoner at Stone River he was recaptured by his own men within ten min- utes. He served three months in West Vir- ginia under Cotter, and in the fall of 1861, after re-enlistment, was promoted to corporal. In the spring of 1862, at Pittsburg Landing, he was sent to a hospital, thence to Camp Denison, and then home. Joining the company at Stevenson, Alabama, he took part in the battles of Liberty Gap and Chickamauga, also skirmishes in eastern Tennessee, and on the 4th of October, 1864, was appointed a ser- geant. Receiving a furlough while at Bridge- port, he rejoined his command at Pumpkin Vine Creek, and on the 6th of November, 1864. was promoted to quartermaster sergeant.

After the close of his service in the Civil war Mr. Shreader returned to Ravenna, and learning the trade of a house painter followed that line of work for about thirty years, both as a painter and contractor. Purchasing a farm of forty-five acres a mile and a half south of Ravenna, he moved to his property there in 1884. and has since been occupied in farming his place. On the 4th of July, 1866, he was united in marriage to Charlotte E. Heeter, who was born in Ravenna township October 18, 1842, a daughter of George and Matilda (Sapp) Heeter, the father born in Pennsyl- vania and the mother in Indiana, and she is a granddaughter of John and Catherine Hee- ter, from Pennsylvania, and of Isaac and Rosanna (Wagner) Sapp, from Maryland. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Shreader are : Charles, who died in infancy ; Albert J., of Ravenna, a prominent painting contractor ; Henry J., also of Ravenna ; and Alice, who was born June 1I, 1880, and died on the 17th of July, 1908. Mr. Shreader, a Republican in politics, served as a member of the Ravenna city council and on its school board. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Encampment at Ravenna, of the Grand Army of the Republic, McIntosh Post, No. 327, and of the Disciple church.

ELAM B. PAGE .- A lifelong resident of Ohio, Elam B. Page was for many years identified with the development and advance- ment of its prosperity, and held a position among the successful farmers of Henrietta township, Lorain county. He was born No-

vember 13, 1841, in Willoughby, Lake county, Ohio, being the son of one of its pioneer set- tlers. His father, the late Harvey G. Page, was born in Hebron, Grafton county, New Hampshire, October 28, 1817, and was there reared and educated. He married Julia A. Fairchild in Willoughby, Ohio, September 26, 1839, who was born in Evansville, Indiana, October 1, 1819. After his marriage he re- sided a few years in Lake county, from there coming with his family to Lorain county. Finally locating in Henrietta township, he was here engaged in tilling the soil, and also worked as a bricklayer and stone mason until his death, in 1895. He was the father of five children, namely: Elam B .; Lafay- ette, who married Mary Crawford, was a lo- comotive engineer, and was killed by his en- gine near St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1869; Lydia Josephine, who died in 1896, and she had mar- ried Frank Bartlett, a traveling salesman ; Sarah Jane, Mrs. Addison W. Griggs, of Well- ington, Ohio; and George W., of Welling- ton, married Celia Johnson.

Elam B. Page assisted his father in clear- ing a farm from the wilderness, working dur- ing his boyhood throughout the long vaca- tions. He was a studious lad, fond of his books, and received good educational advan- tages. Succeeding to the occupation of his ancestors, he devoted his energies to farming and bridge building, which he continued until his death, May 19, 1905.

Mr. Page married, February 24, 1870, Christiana A. Barhyte, who was born Janu- ary 19, 1843, at Saratoga Springs, New York, a daughter of Richard and Rosella ( Mapes) Barhyte, and they became the parents of four children, one of whom died at birth, while three are living, namely: Frank E., born in 1873, married Lizzie E. Coates, and resides in Elyria ; Lulu A., born in September, 1876, married Omar C. Sanders, and resides in Hen- rietta ; and Jennie R., born February 28, 1879, resides with her mother. Politically, Mr. Page invariably supported the principles of the Democratic party, and socially, he was a mem- ber of the Henrietta Grange.

HORACE ABBEY is an esteemed resident of Perry township, Lake county, where he is prosperously engaged in agricultural pursuits. He is a son of George Abbey, Jr., and a grand- son of George Abbey, Sr., who emigrated from England to the United States, becoming a pio- neer settler of Leroy township, Ohio.

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Mr. Abbey married Minnie Mosher, who was born in Lorain county, Ohio, in 1859, a daughter of brave old Hugh Mosher, the noted fifer, who came from a family distin- guished for its patriotism, his father, Gideon Mosher, having been a veteran of the war of 1812. while his grandfather Mosher, Mrs. Abbey's great-grandfather, was killed on the battlefield during the Revolutionary war. Hugh Mosher himself served a year in the Civil war, belonging to the One Hundred and Forty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, from which he was honorably discharged on ac- count of ill health. Hugh Mosher was born at Perry, Lake county, Ohio, January 29, 1819. and died at Brighton, Ohio, August 15, 1892, his death being noted in the papers throughout the country. He was the most celebrated and probably the best fifer in north- ern Ohio, and at his funeral his coffin was wreathed in the American flag, upon which lay his fife, while above was hung the picture in which he appeared as fifer. This picture, the masterpiece of the famous artist, A. M. Willard. of Cleveland, entitled "The Spirit of '76," has three figures in the foreground. the drummer in the center being an almost perfect portrait of his father, Rev. Mr. Wil- lard, a Baptist minister; the boy drummer on his right was found in the person of Harry Devereaux, son of General J. H. Devereaux, an officer in the Civil war, while the fifer on the left was, as previously mentioned, Hugh Mosher. whose picturesque figure stands for an exalted type of patriotism.

HENRY B. KISHMAN, a successful business man of Vermilion, Ohio, was born in Black River township, Lorain county, July 17, 1848. He is a son of Adam and Martha (Claus) Kishman, the former a native of Hesse Cas- tle, Germany, and the latter of Brownhelm township. Mrs. Kishman was a daughter of Adam and Catherine (Greenwald) Claus. Adam Kishman and his wife had six sons and six daughters, of whom Henry B. is the third child.

Henry B. Kishman attended the public school and spent a short time at Oberlin Col- lege. He took up the occupation of fisher- man when eighteen years of age, and became a large dealer in fish. In this enterprise he has been very successful, and March 1, 1909, the Kishman Fish Company was formed, being a stock company, with Mr. Kishman as presi- dent; he is also manager of the Vermilion

office. They have a branch office at Huron, of which Ed W. Kishman is manager; he is also vice president. J. W. Nicholas, of Ely- ria, Ohio, is secretary and treasurer. They ship fish to all parts of the country, and do an enormous business. Henry B. Kishman has been the president of the Erie County Bank- ing Company since January, 1909.

Mr. Kishman remained with his parents until his marriage, and soon after built a house on a small portion of the home farm which his father gave him. He is an enterprising and public-spirited citizen, and stands well in the community. Mr. Kishman is a Democrat in political views, and has served as township trustee. He is a member of Vermilion Lodge, No. 424, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Knights and Ladies of Security, of Brownhelm.

On March 15, 1883, Mr. Kishman married Flora, daughter of Joshua and Harriet Phelps. She was born in Brownhelm township, and her parents were from Pennsylvania. Mr. Kishman and his wife became the parents of three children, namely: Clarence, of Lorain, Ohio; Harvey, who died at the age of ten and a half years; and Lester, at home.

WILLIAM N. COONS, D. O .- One of the most successful exponents of the beneficent system of osteopathy in the state of Ohio is Dr. William N. Coons, who is engaged in the practice of his profession in the village of Medina, where he is the owner of Coons' In- stitute, a fine institution founded by him and equipped with the most approved apparatus and accessories for the treatment of the vari- ous disorders of humanity according to the tenets of the school of which he is so able a representative.

Dr. Coons is a native of the state of Illinois, having been born on the parental farmstead, in La Salle county, on the 29th of March, 1867, and being a son of Nelson and Maria (Messersmith) Coons, the former of whom was born near Freehold, New York, in the picturesque Catskill region, and the latter of whom was born in Indiana. Nelson Coons was one of the honored pioneers of La Salle county, Illinois, where he developed a fine farm and where both he and his wife continued to reside until their death. She was summoned to the life eternal in 1900, and his death oc- curred in 1902. The father was a stanch ad- vocate of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor, being

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one of the influential citizens of his community and one who ever commanded uniform confi- dence and esteem.

Dr. Coons was reared on the old homestead farm, and his initial experiences in connec- tion with the practical duties of life were those incidental to the work of the farm. He was afforded the advantages of the public schools of his native county, and after leaving the same he was employed for seven years on what is now the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, and Illinois Central, where he held the position of operator and agent at various locations and for varying intervals. Upon re- signing his position with the railroad company he went to Kirksville, Missouri, where he en- tered the American School of Osteopathy, in which celebrated institution, the parent of all others in the Union, he was graduated as a member of the class of 1899. He then located at Hiawatha county, Kansas, where he was successfully engaged in the practice of his profession until March, 1902, when he located in Medina, Ohio, where his exceptional ability as an exemplar of his effective school of prac- tice has gained and retained to him a large and representative practice, which now extends throughout Medina and into adjoining coun- ties, from which patients come to avail them- selves of the privileges of his finely equipped institute, which was completed in 1905, at a cost of about $8,000. The building is a two- story structure. It has the best of sanitary facilities and the most modern osteopathic ap- pliances, including electrical devices which are undoubtedly the best in the county. The doc- tor is a member of the American Association of Osteopathy and also of the Ohio Osteo- pathic Society. He is affiliated with Morning Star Lodge, No. 36, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is a stanch supporter of the cause of the Republican party, and is a citizen of much public spirit, enjoying marked popu- larity in the attractive little city with whose interests he has so thoroughly identified him- self.

In 1897 Dr. Coons was united in marriage to Miss Nettie Rector, of New Franklin, Mis- souri, and they have one daughter, Dale C. .

EDSON J. NORTON .- Noteworthy among the active and progressive agriculturists who are skilfully devoting their energies to the care and management of their land is Edson J. Norton, of Pierpont township, Ashtabula county, who evidently possesses a good under-

standing of the best ways of so conducting his chosen vocation as to secure the most profitable results. He is a son of the late Mer- ritt Norton, and comes from substantial New England ancestry. His grandfather, Timothy Norton, born in Massachusetts about 1780, was an early settler of the Western Reserve, locating in Hartford township, Trumbull county, where his five children, Merritt, Hep- sie, Nancy, Celestia and Luther, were born.

Merritt Norton was born on the parental homestead in Hartford township, December 25. 1820. Succeeding to the occupation of his ancestors, he took up wild land when a young man, in Fowler township, Trumbull county, and was there employed in tilling the soil until his death, February 1, 1896. He married Diadama Cratchley, and to them eight children were born, as follows: Edson J., the special subject of this brief sketch; Rosa- lina, wife of Charles Lamson, of whom a brief biographical notice appears elsewhere in this work ; Luther, born June 2, 1850, married Harriet Lamson, and died January 31, 1896, leaving two children; Charlie, born in 1857, died in 1877: Lettie, born April 1, 1859, mar- ried Harry Cowan, and died in 1879, leaving two children; Emerson, born January 28, 1862, now living in Trumbull county, Ohio, married Cora Williams, and they have one daughter; Allie, born February 9, 1872, liv- ing in Trumbull county, married Mary Cole, and they have two children; and Freddie, born in 1871, lived but twelve years.

Born on the home farm in Fowler town- ship, Trumbull county, September 10. 1846. Edson J. Norton was educated in the public schools, and as a boy became familiar with the various branches of agriculture. He is now successfully carrying on general farming and dairying in Pierpont township, Ashta- bula county, having a finely improved farm of seventy-six acres.

Mr. Norton married, December 24, 1876, Theda Lamson, who was born April 25. 1852, a daughter of Willis and Nancy (Greenwood) Lamson. Their only child, Cyril C., born September 24. 1877, died February 1, 1894. Mr. Norton is a Republican in politics, and both he and his wife are members of the Grange. Mr. Norton is an active member of the Congregational church, to which Mrs. Norton also belongs, and served as trustee for three years, while for six years Mrs. Norton was a teacher in the Sunday school.

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THE HON. FRANK JOSEPH KING is perhaps one of the best known citizens of Lorain, one of its pioneers and one of the best mayors the city has ever had. He was born on the old King farm in Avon township, Lorain county, July 19, 1843, a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Simmons) King, both of whom were born in England. Henry King came to the United States in 1834, and purchased from the Con- necticut Land Company the farm which has remained for so many years in the King name. He cleared the place of its dense growth of timber, erected a log cabin and shortly after- ward married, and it was in that log cabin that his son Frank Joseph, the future mayor of Lorain, was born. When he was fourteen years of age his father died, and he continued attending the country schools for two more years. At that time he began teaching school, teaching for several years during the winter months and working on the farm during the summers, and during that time he saved a sufficient sum to enable him to pursue a course of two years in the Baldwin University at Berea, Ohio, he having rented a room and boarded himself while attending college. Re- turning home, he resumed his teaching and farm work until in 1863 he entered the army, but after about eight months was discharged on account of ill health contracted while on duty. Again he resumed his teaching and farming, but in 1876 he left the farm and moved to Lorain, becoming one of the pioneers of this city.

Until 1893 Mr. King was engaged in the grocery business here, and from that time until 1900 he devoted his attention to various business interests. In the year last mentioned he was made a member of the Board of Equal- ization of Lorain, and as such was requested by the Chamber of Commerce to go before the State Board of Equalization to secure a reduction in the city tax vote for Lorain. In 1902 he was elected the mayor of Lorain on the Democratic ticket, although this city is nominally Republican, and he was twice re- elected. When he took charge of this office the city tax rate was thirty-seven and six- tenths mills on the dollar, city bonds drawing four and one-half per cent interest, but there were no demands on the market for the bonds and there was no money in the treasury, but he left the office with a tax rate of thirty-two and two-tenths mills, with a surplus in the treasury, short-term bonds selling at four and one-half per cent, bringing a premium, and

long-term bonds at four per cent also bringing a premium. Public improvements generally were given an impetus under his administra- tion, and he is conceded to be the best mayor Lorain has ever had, a disinterested worker and a valued official. After retiring from the position he traveled extensively in the Rocky mountains and over other parts of the coun- try, but in the fall of 1909 he was again the Democratic candidate for the office of mayor, and was elected.

Mr. King married Margaret Ellen Lee, a member of the prominent old New England family of that name, her ancestors coming. to this country before the American Revolution, and she was of the ninth generation of the family born in the same house, built before the war of the Revolution, and yet occupied. She died October 24, 1894, at the age of forty- nine years, leaving a daughter, Mary Elizabeth, who married the Rev. F. W. Crowe, now pas- tor of the First Presbyterian church at Saline- ville, Ohio.

ADAM F. COLEMAN, a well-known citizen of Ravenna township, was born in Greene township, Summit county, Ohio, January 21, 1855, and his father, Adam Coleman, was born at the same place April 24, 1822. He was a son of Jacob and Barbara (Emerick) Coleman, who were born in Union county, Pennsylvania, the former on January 6, 1784, and the latter on May 6, 1788. They were mar- ried in their native state of Pennsylvania, Jan- nary 6, 1807, and some time between that year and 1811 they made the journey with team and wagon to what was then Stark county, Ohio, but which later formed a part of Summit coun- ty, where they were farming people during the remainder of their lives. Mr. Coleman dying on April 20, 1833, and his wife on April 8, 1860.

Adam Coleman, their son, married in Sum- mit county, Ohio, May 9, 1843, Sarah Heck- man, who was born in Pike township, Stark county, this state, May 22, 1820, a daughter of Michael Heckman, from Pennsylvania. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Coleman took up their abode in Uniontown, Ohio, where he followed his trade of wagon-making for years, but the greater part of his life was spent on his farm. In 1881 he sold all of his property in Summit county, and coming to Ravenna township, in Portage county, bought the farm on which he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, Mr. Cole-

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man dying there on August 29, 1884, and his wife on April 1, 1902. Nine of their children died in infancy, and two lived to years of ma- turity-Adam and his sister Mary, the latter becoming the wife of B. F. Motz, of Ravenna township.

Adam F. Coleman, the eighth born of their children, and the elder of the two living, was never away from his mother during her life- time with the exception of two weeks, and after his marriage he resided on the home farm until the spring of 1899, when he pur- chased a forty-acre tract three miles south- west of Ravenna, and in addition he also owns eighty-five and three-fourths acres of the old Coleman farm which belonged to his parents. General farming and stock raising was his life's work, but in 1903 he rented his land and has since lived practically retired from a busi- ness life. He married, on January 31, 1878, Ella Christlieb, who was born in Noble county, Indiana, March 21, 1857, a daughter of Abra- ham and Lydia (Horner) Christlieb, natives respectively of Stark county, Ohio, and of York county, Pennsylvania, the mother born on October 15, 1833, and she died on February 10. 1907. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Coleman was Jacob Christlieb. One daughter was born to bless the union of Mr. and Mrs. Coleman, Mary Almeda, who was born on January 1, 1879, and became the wife of Nor- man N. Wise. They were married on February 12, 1899, and their only child died within seven days of its birth. They reside on her father's farm near Ravenna. Mr. Coleman is an independent political voter.

ALBERT GERSHON SHELDON on the pat- ernal side traces his descent to the American founders, Isaac Sheldon, who came to this country from England in 1636. Thomas Shel- don is next in line of descent, and then comes two Isaacs, while in direct line springs Captain Ebenezer Sheldon, who was born in Suffield, Connecticut. Commissioned as captain in the Revolutionary army, he served as a minute man in the first regiment of Connecticut state troops. Among his sons was Gershon Shel- don. born January 4, 1788, in Suffield, Con- necticut, and by his marriage to Roxanna Russell, who was born March 10, 1792, prob- ably at Warrensville, Ohio, he had four children, but only one, Albert Russell Sheldon, lived to years of maturity. Captain Ebenezer Sheldon was the founder of the family on the Western Reserve, whither he arrived on June

14, 1799, and together with Mr. and Mrs. Elias Harmon, he erected a log cabin. In the following year he returned to Connecticut for his family, and on the return journey, within a few miles of Warren, a terrific wind- storm blew down the forest trees about them until they were obliged to chop their way out with axes. Albert Russell Sheldon was born March 22, 1815, on the farm which is the home farm of his son, Albert Gershon, and he married on October 28, 1840, in Streetsboro, Ohio, Cornelia Dow. She was born August 16, 1815, in Northampton, Massachusetts, and their marriage union was blessed by the birth of five children.

Their son, Albert G. Sheldon, was born at his present home in Aurora township January 17. 1842, and in his youth he received a dis- trict school training and a course at Hiram College, which became famous through its connection with former president of the United States Garfield. Leaving college in 1861 Mr. Sheldon returned to his father's farm, and agriculture has since been his life's occupation. On December 5, 1864, in Aurora, he was married to Sarah Roxanna Harmon, who was born July 26, 1843, and they became the parents of two children, Amelia Minnie and Bessie. The elder daughter, born October 5, 1865, in the present Sheldon home, married on June 29, 1887, Arthur Byron Russell, who died October 1, 1896, leaving twins Maud Mary and Mae Minnie, born May 12, 1888. She married for her second husband, Sep- tember 17, 1905, in Aurora, Arthur Bentley Hurd, by whom she has two children, Arthur Bentley, born August 6, 1906, and Victor Sheldon, born April 12, 1909. Bessie, the second daughter of Albert G. Sheldon, was born November II, 1867, and died on March 23, 1872. Mrs. Sheldon was called from this life on December II, 1870, dying at the old Powell place in Mantua, and for his second wife Mr. Sheldon chose Olivia Hickox. whom he married January 1, 1874. She was born in Aurora December 5, 1847, a daughter of Samuel and Emily (Blair) Hickox, born re- spectively in Suffield, Connecticut, September 10, 1810, and in Aurora November 20, 1816. and their marriage was celebrated in Aurora on January 1, 1840. Their union was blessed by the birth of three sons and a daughter. Three children have also been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon, Betsey Forward, Cornelia May and Albert Gershon, Jr. Betsey For- ward, born September 7, 1874, married George

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History of the Western Reserve, Vol. II, Part 97

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