USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Memorial record of the county of Cuyahoga and city of Cleveland, Ohio, Pt.1 > Part 68
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Ile is a member of To Kalon Conneil, No. 524, Royal Arcammn; Washington Lodge, No. 10, K. of P., and of Cuyahoga Council, No. 523, National Union.
Jaunary 1, 1868, is the date of Me. Warner's marriage, in Cleveland, to Miss Alice C. Ken- nedy, of Jackson, Michigan, a daughter of Thompson Kennedy, and lives in a fine resi- dence at No. 258 Bolton avenue.
H IRAM DAY, one of the oldest living settlers of Cuyahoga county, Ohio, is the second son and fourth-born of a family of eight children. His parents were Benjamin and Naney (Andrews) Day. The father was a native of New Jersey, but removed from that State to Washington county, Penn- sylvania, in 1811. lu 1812, on the day of the battle of Put-in-Bay, September 10, he arrived in Cleveland, Ohio, and was greeted with the roar of the cannon not far distant. Ile and other settlers there had everything in readiness to " beat a hasty retreat" in case tho Americans lost the day. William Hale and A. Crosby were among the number who were there on that eventful day. Ile purchased 333 acres of land, all of which was heavily timbered, and under- took the ardnous task of reducing it to a state of cultivation. The bear, wolf and deer roved through the forest at will, and many Indians dwelt in the neighborhood. Here in these wild surroundings their children were reared and odneated, with the exception of Phabe, de ceased, who remained in Pennsylvania with her
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grandmother; she married James Hannah; Robert grew to manhood upon his father's farm, but chose the profession of medicine as his vocation; he became one of the prominent physicians of this State, and died at an 'ad- vanced age; Hiram is the subject of this notice; Lavinia, deceased, was the wife of Abner Cros- by; Catherine, deceased, was the wife of Iliram Mellrath; Margaret, deceased, Delilah, who married S. MeFarlin, of Cleveland; and Florus, who died at the age of seven or eight years. The father died at the venerable age of ninety-four years, the mother having passed away some years earlier.
Hiram Day was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, September 10, 1809, and was an infant of two years when his parents removed to Ohio. Ile assisted his father in the labors of the farm, and acquired his education in the primitive log schoolhouse of the frontier. Ile remained under the parental roof until he had attained his majority, and during the seventeen years that followed he devoted his energies to placing the homestead under cultivation and clearing it of debt.
He was married November 10, 1837, to Mrs. Catherine Bishop, who was born in East Cleveland. Two children were born of this mion: George W., who died at the age of two years, and Joseph A., whose history is given elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Day died with- in six years after her marriage. Mr. Day was married a second time, this nnion being with Deborah Albee, of East Cleveland. They are the parents of two children: Martha Adelaide, deceased, and Merey, wife of Olney Crozier, who resides npon the homestead. Mrs. Day departed this life in August, 1882. After his first marriage Mr. Day settled upon 100 acres of land in the heart of the forest, and a second time performed the heavy labor necessary to render the land productive. In early days he gained a wide reputation as a chopper, and was equally famed for the number of rails ho had split. He is now eighty-five years of age and" retains his mental and physical vigor to a re- !
markable degree. By unremitting toil he ac- cumulated a competence which has made his old age one of peace and comfort. For more than half a century he has been a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church. In the time of the Whig party he gave his support to that organization, but when its usefulness had passed into history ho gave equal allegiance to the Republican party.
H E. GRESHAM, a representative young business man of Cleveland, since 1888 has been manager of the interests of Mr. J. II. Wade, in the absence of that gen- tleman.
Hle is a native of Sheffield, England, born in December, 1865, a son of Samuel S. and Emily (Hooton) Gresham, who are now residents of Cleveland, locating here in 1890, after spending two years in Canada. Mr. Gresham was reared in his native country and educated in the com- mercial schools of Sheffield. Learning the cut- lery trade, in the works of Wheatley Brothers, he was made, within four years after he was em- ployed there and before he was twenty-one years of age, manager of the pocket-knife department of the institution. Also, prior to his majority, he was Sergeant of the First Battalion of the York and Lancaster Regiment, in which he served three years, being promoted each year. Ilis motto is to excol in all that he undertakes.
In 1886 he came to America, locating first in Philadelphia, where he spent some seven months, entering the insurance business while there; then, after making a short sojourn at West Point, he came to Toledo, where he followed the insurance business a few months, and next went to Chicago, and was engaged by John Hunter for a short time in contracting, and finally came to this city and associated himself with Mr. Wade as his private secretary, which relation he now holds.
Mr. Gresham is a gentleman of good, sonnd business ability, faithful and reliable. He is a
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member of the Lake View Lodge, I. O. O. F., and vice president of the Keating Wheel Club.
Angust 4, 1890, at St. John's Church, by Rev. F. M. Hall, he was married to Miss Alice Linley, daughter of Conneillor Percy Linley, of Sheffield, England. Mr. and Mrs. Gresham are the parents of one child, named Harry. They are members of St. Mark's Church, Protestant Episcopal, of this city, and in his political views Mr. Gresham is a Republican.
C HARLES HI. DUNBAR, a retired farmer of Brecksville township, was born March 31, 1817, in Brimfield, Hampden connty, Massachusetts. His father, Captain John Dun- bar, was born in Worcester, that State, and married Miss Iney B. Bliss, a native of Hamp- den county, and had the following children: Charles II. (our subject), Thersa, Lucretia, Rebecca, John, Lney, William, and Thomas. In the fall of 1831 Captain Dunbar came to Brecksville township, this county, in a one- horse wagon, and bought a tract of eighty acres in the western part of the township, at $3 an aere. He also purchased seven fine horses, which he took back to the east, driving them by riding horseback, and sold them in Boston for a high price.
May 21, 1832, his parents and their eight children hired a fonr-horse team and a two- horse team and started West, laying in a supply of goods at Albany and coming by way of the canal to Bulfalo and the steamer Henry Clay to Cleveland, arriving in Cuyahoga county June 4. They found that the house and improvements on their place had been removed during the owner's absence in the East, and they tempora- rily ocenpied a log house at some distance from their work. Alter their arrival here the fol- lowing children were born: George, Frank and Homer. Thersa died unmarried, at the age of twenty-two years; Lucretia is now the widow of Francis Adams, of Chicago, Illinois; Re- beeca is the widow of William Wheeler, of Chi-
cago; John is a retired hotel-man of Beloit, Wisconsin; Ley is now Mrs. Burr Van Noate, of Brecksville township; William is a Iruit- raiser in California; Thomas is a farmer at Gallatin, Montana; George is a resident of South Cleveland; Frank, of Gallatin, Montana; and Homer is a retired hotel-keeper of St. Joseph, Missouri. Their father died at the age of eighty-four years, and his wife at eighty- nine years of age, and they are buried in Center Cemetery. During his later years Captain Dunbar lived- a retired life in Beloit, Wiscon- sin, but died at Brecksville Center. He was a successful man of business, having obtained the possession of 200 acres of good land. In poli- ties he was a decided Whig and Republican, and anti-slavery. Hle never sought political office, but he held offices in the Congregational Church, of which Mrs. Dunbar was also a member.
Mr. Charles II. Dunbar, whose name intro- duces this sketch, was sixteen years of age when he came to Ohio; and, being the eldest of the children, in frontier life, he had fewer advantages of school education. He took his sisters in a two-horse wagon to Oberlin, to at- tend school there. Ile remained upon the farm, working industriously in clearing, etc., until he was twenty-one years of age.
September 17, 1839, he married Miss Har- riet W. Storrs, who was born July 17, 1820, in Westport, Essex county, New York, a danghter of Elijah and Julia (Holcomb) Storrs, who came to Ohio in 1834, locating in Summit county. She attended school at IIndson, Ohio, and after- ward taught school, at one time for a dollar a week, when a calico dress cost $3. Alter mar- riage Mr. Dunbar located first on rented land in Brecksville township, and then purchased fifty-six aeres of land, going in debt for it. Ile followed agriculture there for sixteen years, and then moved upon his present farm, which in area was an addition to the tract of over 200 acres he already had. Since his location here he has been engaged in buying live stock, wool, etc., traveling throughout the Western States
CUYAHOGA COUNTY.
and Canada. He and Mrs. Dimmbar spont the winter of 1882-'83 in Florida. Ile is now practically retired from business, which is in charge of his son Charles F. They have rented property in Cleveland and have interests else- where. Mr. Dunbar has been a successful man in life, and his efficient wife has done her share toward his success. He is a man of strong constitution, determined disposition and of business-like habits, capable of filling many re- sponsible positions. He was originally a Whig, and is now a Republican. Both he and his wife are members of the Congregational Church, of which he was formerly Trustee, and Deacon for a number of years, but resigned on account of failure in the faculty of hearing. He is a great friend of the common-school system. His only child, Charles F., born May 30, 1841, is living with him.
W HI. PARK, anditor of the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Railway Company, is a native of Ohio and of Scotch an- cestry. Ilis father, Robert Park, born in Carl- ton Hills, Scotland, omigrated to the United States in 1819, and made a temporary residence in Ithaca, New York, where he followed his trade, cabinet-making and carpentering, for about a decade, when he renewed his westward journey and settled in North Fairfield, Huron county, in 1830. The last years of his life were spent on a farm, and he died in 1855, at the age of fifty-three years. He was married at Ithaca, to Miss Margaret Lockhart, and they had the following named children: Mrs. Mor- foot, wife of B. F. Morfoot, of Elyria, Ohio; Miss Eva Park; Mrs. D. P. Myers, of Hills- dale, Michigan; W. 11. Park; Mrs. C. M. Casey, of Indianapolis, Indiana; and C. E. Park, also of Indianapolis.
Mr. W. 11. Park, whose name introduces this sketch, was educated primarily in the district schools. To prepare for his business career he completed a course in the well-known Pongh- keepsie ( New York) Business College, graduat-
ing May 2, 1865. He returned to the farm and remained nntil May, 1868, when he was employed by the " Big 4" at Greenwich station as a man of all work. In January, 1873, he came to the Lake Shore & Tuscarawas Valley Railway Company, now the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling, as agent at Canal Dover, where he remained until 1876. He was then transferred to Elyria, in the same capacity, and served there until July, 1877, when he was promoted to the positions of paymaster and traveling auditor. After filling those positions until January 1, 1881, he was elected anditor for the company.
Ile is a member of the Association of Rail- way Accountants. Joining the Masonic order in 1878, he now affiliates with the Cleveland City Lodge, Cleveland Chapter, Iloly Rood Commandery and Lake Erie Consistory.
August 26, 1875, at Canal Dover, he married Miss Fannie, a daughter of Hon. Edmund Bur- nett, whose original home was in Connectient; and the children of Mr. and Mrs. Park are Robert, aged seventeen; and Ralph, aged four- teen.
A LEXANDER HADDEN, son of the late Alexander Hadden, of Wheeling, West Virginia, was born in that city, July 2, 1850. When he was nine years of age his father's death occurred, and about that time his mother and the family removed to Euclid township, this county. Ilis mother now makes her home with him. In Euclid township Mr. Iladden spent his youth, at work on a farm and in attending district schools. He also attended the high school at Collamer, and then went to Oberlin College, at which institution he gradn- ated in 1873. In the same year he began read- ing law in Cleveland under the instructions of Spaulding & Dickman, the latter now being a judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio. In Oc- tober, 1875, Mr. Hadden was admitted to the bar, and at once began the practice of law. In February, 1882, he was appointed Assistant
0
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County Prosecuting Attorney, by Honorable C. M. Stone. In this capacity ho served with credit and ability until 1885, in Jannary of which year he became Prosecuting Attorney for the county, having been elected to the office in the preceding fall. In the fall of 1887 Mr. Hadden was re-elected to that office, in which he served a second term, which ended Jannary 1, 1891. He then opened an office in connection with Mr. Sheldon Parks, and he has since re- mained in the general practice of his profession. Ile tried many important cases in court while Proseenting Attorney, among which was the case of the State of Ohio vs. Otto Leuth, in which Leuth was indicted for the murder of Maggie Thompson, a child under seven years of age, in which case Leuth was convicted of mur- der in the first degree, and for which crime he was hanged.
July 17, 1553, Mr. Hadden married Miss Frank Hawthorne, and they have two children, a daughter and son.
D AVID BRATTON, a prosperons farmer of Brecksville township, was born De- cember 6, 1818, in Stamford township, Bennington county, Vermont. His father, Robert Bratton, also a native of the Green Mountain State, was a farmer in humble cir- enmstances, and married Mrs. Huldah (Knowl- ton) Butler, a widow, born in Massachusetts near the Vermont line. In 1827 Robert Brat- ton moved his family from Stamford to Shafts- bury across the mountain, the journey being an impressive one on the mind of young David. Disposing of his small farm of twenty-five acres, Mr. Bratton and his wife and seven chil- dren (the oldest not yet thirteen years of age) moved to Ohio, by way of the Erie canal and lake to Cleveland, and thence by a hired con- veyance to Brecksville, the journey from Cleve- land ont requiring the time from sunrise to simset. Here they arrived, with but $5 in money, and none of the children old enough to
help to a considerable extent. Finding a tem- porary home in the southern part of the town- ship, Mr. Bratton enltivated a farm the first year on shares. After living there one winter he moved further north. Later he purchased twenty-five acres of land sontheast of where his son David now lives. In later years the par- ents and one son, Robert, and two danghters moved to Ashtabula township, Ashtabula county, where they continued to reside until their (the parents') death, -Mr. Bratton dying July 28, 1872, and his wife Angust 22, 1879, and they are buried in that vicinity. Their children are: David, the subject of this sketch; Lydia, who died unmarried; Sallie and Robert, who reside in Ashtabula county; Timothy, who died in 1832; Harry, now a resident of Ashta- Imla; Joseph, of New Lyme, Ashtabula county; and Alonzo, who died in infancy.
Mr. David Bratton, belonging to a family in poverty, was brought up to habits of industry. When but ten years of age he began working for wages, at $3 per month, and afterward for $5 a month, with the savings from which he paid for the home of his parents and purchased a yoke of oxen, at $45, and also contributed $50 toward the improvements of his parents' place. Accordingly, in consideration of what he had done, he was given his time at the age of eighteen years.
In February, 1847, he married Miss Laura Tnthill, who was born in New York in 1825, a danghter of Deacon Samnel Tuthill, who emi- grated to Cuyahoga county in early times. Mrs. Bratton died September 14, 1888, and was buried in Royalton cemetery. She tanght school several terms: was formerly a Baptist in her church relations. After his marriage Mr. Bratton located where he now lives, and where he owns 156 acres of excellent land; and he has erected all the buildings now on his farm. By his own industry and economy he has acenmu- lated a competence. Probably no man in the township has labored under so many and great difficulties as he, and at the same time succeeded in doing so well. Politically he is a Democrat,
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and has generally selected the best men in his township for county offices. His children are: Maria, now Mrs. William Evans, of Royalton township; Ernest, of Ashtabula, Ohio; Harvey T., on the home farm; besides an infant son who died unnamed.
C YRUS C. BREEN, an honored repre- sentative of one of the oldest pioneer families of Brecksville township, was born January 2, 1841, in this township. His father, Joseph Breen, Jr., was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in 1808, and the father of the latter, Joseph, Sr., was a native of Ireland, born in 1765 and brought to the United States in 1770 by his widowed mother. Ile grew to manhood in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and in 1804 married Jane Clifford, who was born November 9, 1786. In 1808 he came to Youngstown, and in 1810 moved to Boston, Summit county, Ohio, where he resided a few years. He moved to Brecksville township in 1818, into a log house he had built the preced- ing year, on the farm where Mr. Cyrus C. Breen now lives. In 1864 a frame addition was built, and in 1875 the old log portion was torn away by Cyrus C. Breen, who built a frame house on the same ground. The price paid for the farm was $2.18 per acre. The reader can imagine how wild the forest was here at that time: not a stick had been cut by white man, and the woods were rife with all the species of wild animals that ever roved in Ohio. The battle of Lake Erie at Put-in Bay was dis- tinetly heard by Mr. Breen, while he with others was at a "raising " in Independence township. This family were among the pio- neers of Beaver county, Pennsylvania. The mother of Jane (Clifford) Breen, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Stoops, was captured by the savages during their raid through western Pennsylvania during the latter part of the last century, and carried to the vicinity of Sandusky, Ohio, where she was rescued, singto-handed, by
a daring man named Brady, who was made famous by his great leap clearing the Cuyahoga river near Cuyahoga Falls.
On the wilderness spot above referred to Mr. Breen lived until his death, August 10, 1829: his wife survived until June 5, 1865. Their children were: John G., Nancy, Joseph, Eliz- abeth, William, David, Cunningham, Edward, Sarah Jane, James and Cyrus C., -- all of whom are dead.
Joseph Breen, Jr., the father of the subject of this sketch, was brought to Brecksville by his parents, and was reared on the farm now owned and occupied by our subject. October 10, 1839, in Northfield, Summit county, he married Betsey Hunt, who was born Angust 28, 1821, in that township, a danghter of Abner, Sr., and Betsey (Johnson) Hunt. Ile then located opposite where Mr. Cyrus C. Breen now lives, and continned there the re- mainder of his life, dying February 23, 1873. He was made a cripple for life by having, when a boy only five years of age, fallen over a log in the door-yard and breaking his thigh bone and dislocating his aukle: the latter injury, not being noticed, was not properly cared for. He learned the trade of weaver in his younger days, and in early life here in the forest wove the goods used by the family. His children were: Cyrus C., whose name heads this sketch; and William J., a farmer of Brecksville township. Their mother survived until May 21, 1892, and now lies buried in the Eastern cemetery be- side her husband, which had been given by " Granny " Timmons to the township; but, the deed being lost, it fell to Mr. Cyrus C. Breen and his brother, who deeded it to the township in the fall of 1892. Politically Mr. Joseph Breen was a Republican, and in religion his wife was a Methodist.
The gentleman whose name introduces this sketch was brought up a farmer's boy, remain- ing a resident at the parental home until he was twenty-seven years of age. ` Being the chl- est son, he was of considerable assistance to his parents. For a home he at first rented the
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place where he now lives; later he bought a small traet of twenty-four acres, to which he added at different times, and now has 115 acres of land, all of good quality. In his political views he was formerly a Republican, but since 1866 he has been a Democrat. For fifteen years he was a School Director. All his life he has been a snecessful farmer and one of the most deserving pioneers.
HIe was married December 29, 1867, to Mary R. Packard, who was born Angust 7, 1846, in Hinckley township, Medina county, Ohio, a danghter of 1. S. and Betsey A. (Bellus) Pack- ard. Her father was born in Franklin county, Massachusetts, and her mother in Franklin county, Vermont. Mr. and Mrs. Breen's chil- dren are Joseph S. and Elmer C. Joseph S. Breen was married February 21, 1892, to Hattie Whitehead, and now lives on a part of the farm of the late Joseph Breen, .r., deceased.
M F. BARRETT, of the Cleveland Bronze & Brass Works, was born in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, April 21, 1863. Thomas Barrett, father of the subject of this notice, was an Irishman, a native of connty Mayo, his birth occurring about 1833, came to Cleveland in 1859, and was for many years foreman for Rhodes & Company, but is now in the water department of the city's employ. Ile married Bridget Gallagher, and their children are: M. F .; Thomas S., a civil engineer on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad; and Hannah A.
M. F. Barrett was educated in the parochial schools of this city, graduating at sixteen years of age, and spent some time in the private school of Prof. George Kelly before entering the For- est City Business College, where he took a di- ploma, completing his education.
On taking up the realities of life Mr. Barrett apprenticed himself in the shops of the Cuya- hoga Steam Furnace Company, where he com- pleted his trade and became a leading molder, remaining in their employ till October, 1892,
when he formed a partnership with P. J. F. Tumney and engaged in the same business under the firm name of The Cleveland Bronze & Brass Works. They are building up a fine business, fully meeting the expectations of the proprietors.
In 1890 Mr. Barrett became interested in politics, and the next year he was elected to membership on the Cleveland School Board, serving one term. In the year 1893 he was elected to the city council from the Eighth dis- triet, receiving a majority of 700 votes. Ile is chairman of the committee on Department Ex- aminations, and a member of the committees on Taxation and Assessment and on Ordinances.
Mr. Barrett is not married.
E DWARD II. REED, an old and esteemed citizen of Strongsville township, was born in Cornwall, England, in St. Agnes par- ish, October 22, 1823. In 1837 he came to America with his father, Thomas Reed, now deceased, who married Mary lichens; both the parents were natives of Cornwall. On their emigration to this conntry they settled in Strongsville township, where they lived until their death, he dying May 21, 1877, and she April 14, 1872.
Of their thirteen children Edward II. was the sixth in order of birth. Ilis boyhood days were spent in Cornwall, and he was brought by his parents to this country in their emigration hither, in 1837. For some six or seven years he was engaged in mercantile business in Albion, but farming and stock-raising have been his chief ocenpation, besides dealing in live stock to some extent. lle is now the owner of 160 acres of land ; once he had 300 acres. Of late years he has led a retired life.
His first marriage was to Miss Hannah Cole, in Strongsville township, and by that nnion there was one danghter, Florence II., who is the wife of II. K. W. Stebbins, of Youngstown. For his second wife Mr. Reed married Emeline
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G. Snow, a native of Strongsville, and by this union also there was one daughter, who died when about four years of age. Mrs. Emeline Reed died in Strongsville township; and for his third wife Mr. Reed married Mrs. Harriet E. Strong, widow of 1. C. Strong, who also died' in this township.
Mr. Reed has filled the office of township Trustee for many years, Treasurer for several years, and Assessor of the real estate of the township; and he has taken a very active part in all local affairs, as well as in general politics, having been a Republican ever since the organ- ization of the party.
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