USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The pioneer families of Cleveland 1796-1840 Vol. II > Part 17
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After Sherlock J. Andrews became a judge of common pleas, the firm name of Andrews & Foote was changed to Foote & Hoyt and in the same year, 1836, Mr. Hoyt made an eastern trip, returning with a bride, Miss Mary E. Beebe, daughter of Alexander M. Bebee, LL. D.
Their first home was on Chestnut street; afterward they purchased a home on Huron Road south of Prospect Ave. and near the Huron street Hospital where they lived many years; finally they removed to Euclid Ave. where they both died. Although a successful lawyer with a large clientage, Mr. Hoyt was not contented to practice his profession. It may have been too exacting for a mind inclined to metaphysics, and to deep religious revery. Therefore, after 10 years of law he relinquished it for an occupation that gave him more time to enjoy the things he most cared for. He entered the real-estate business, bought several of the or- iginal ten-acre lots surrounding the city, allotted, and sold them for resi- dential purposes. With Col. Hiram Wellman he became interested in the growth and development of Ohio City, now the West Side. It is claimed that he opened up over 100 new streets in the city.
He was an ardent member of the Baptist church and a lay preacher of that denomination; supplying vacant pulpits either in the city or in surrounding towns. For 26 consecutive years he was the superintend- ent of the First Baptist Church Sunday School, loved and revered by two generations of its children. He was also an interesting and valued
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1835
HUBBY
contributor to leading reviews. He traveled abroad and published in book form his experiences and impressions of foreign lands.
Mr. Hoyt's eldest son was a Baptist minister who was settled over churches in Pittsfield, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Brooklyn, N. Y.
The second son was named for James M. Colgate of New York City who had married Mr. Hoyt's sister. The eldest daughter of the family, a beautiful young girl, died in 1854.
Lydia Hoyt Farmer was a bright, ambitious woman who gave her later years to the pursuits of literature. She had several books published.
James H. Hoyt a lawyer of the city was perhaps the most gifted mem- ber of the family. He is a brilliant public orator, and his after-dinner speeches have become celebrated throughout the state of Ohio and else- where.
The children of James and Mary Beebe Hoyt :
Rev. Wayland Hoyt, b. 1838; m. Maud Mansfield.
Mary Ella Hoyt, b. 1840; died 1854. Lydia Hoyt, b. 1842; m. E. J. Far-
mer, son of James Farmer, a Cleveland banker.
Colgate Hoyt, b. 1849.
James Humphrey Hoyt, b. 1850; m. Jessie Taintor of Cleveland.
Ellen Hoyt, b. 1856.
The death of Mrs. James Hoyt, Sr., is registered in the family Bible in the handwriting of her husband. "My beloved wife Mary Ella Hoyt of unspeakably precious memory departed this life Feb., 1890, aged 75 years. Thus our married union lasting 53 years, 5 months and 3 days was severed."
Mr. Hoyt died suddenly of pneumonia following an attack of grip.
1835
HUBBY
Among the men who came to Cleveland in 1835 and made business ventures was L. M. Hubby. Unlike many of his contemporaries who risked their all and failed in the financial depression that followed, he won out and became one of the city's properous business men.
At first he was in the forwarding and commission line with a ware- house on River street. Hubby & Hughes became a familiar landmark in trade along the river.
When the pioneer railroad of Cleveland, the "Three C's," was built, he became its first general freight agent, and from that time on gave all his attention to the railroad's interests. Within five years he had become its president. This was in 1854. His fitness for the position was soon proved. At that time the road was 135 miles long, and its stock was on the market below par. When, 25 years later he resigned the position, it was 500 miles in length, and its stock had sold for 180. Meanwhile it had become the C. C. C. & St. Louis Railroad, or "The Big Four."
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1835
LUKE DEWEY JOHNSON
Mr. Hubby recognized his civic duties to the extent of serving the city as an alderman for several terms, and he assisted in establishing Cleveland's waterworks system. Leander Mead Hubby was born in 1812, therefore was but 23 years of age when he came to Cleveland from Columbus, Chenango Co., N. Y. He was the son of David and Phebe Mallet Hubby.
Three years after his arrival here he married Sarah F. French, daugh- ter of Haynes and Sarah Hughes French of Maidstone, Vt. She was born in 1815.
Mrs. Hubby became prominent in the social life of the city, and in its benevolent activities. As a member of the board of managers of the Cleveland Orphan Asylum, and of the Lakeside Hospital she did excel- lent service, and during the civil war she was an active worker in the Cleveland branch of the Sanitary Commission.
The family lived at 110 Lake Street until Mr. Hubby had erected a fine residence on the south side of Euclid Ave. beyond Willson Ave. and in the neighborhood of the Boltons, Sackets, and other families. A ter- rific gas explosion in 1878 destroyed the Hubby mansion and seriously injured members of the family.
The children of Leander and Sarah French Hubby :
Sarah Louise Hubby, b. 1840; m. Catherine Maria Germain.
Charles W. Doubleday. Ella French Hubby.
Frank Winfield Hubby, b. 1841; m.
Miss Ella F. Hubby is the only representative of the family remaining in Cleveland. She spends part of each year in Los Angeles, Cal.
Col. C. W. and S. L. Doubleday have two daughters, Louise and Ella Doubleday. The family reside in Washington, D. C.
Frank W. Hubby is an attorney of 31 Nassau street, New York City. He has three children : Rollin G., Lester M. and Frank W. Hubby, Jr., and a grandson, Frank Winfield Hubby 3rd.
1835
LUKE DEWEY JOHNSON
Luke Dewey Johnson and his wife Hannah King Johnson were liv- ing in their native town in Pittsfield, Mass., when in 1855 they decided to come west.
They settled in Newburgh where Mrs. Johnson died. Luke D. John- son then married Louisa Ely, daughter of Merrick and Louisa Farnum Ely. She lived but a short time, and Mr. Johnson married 3d her sister Lucinda Ely. The latter was but nine years of age when her parents removed from Deerfield, O., to Newburgh. She was educated at a private school on Prospect street, and one in Elyria, after which she taught
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1835
DILLON
school at Doan's Corners, boarding meanwhile with Mr. and Mrs. Miller Spangler.
After her marriage, Mrs. Johnson's home was on Lake street. With- in a few years the family moved to the Ely farm on Kinsman Road, where Mr. Johnson died. He was buried in Erie street cemetery. Mrs. Lucinda Johnson after long years of absence from this farm recently built a pretty home on it for herself and to be near her children who oc- cupy adjoining bungalows. She was a member of the First Methodist Church when its congregation worshiped on St. Clair street. She lived to be very aged, but her faculties were preserved to a remarkable degree. Few people had such vivid memories of bygone days, or had witnessed such wonderful changes in the city's growth and population; fields and meadows where once horses and cattle grazed, or where wheat and corn swayed in the wind, now closely built up streets of houses or business blocks.
The children of Luke D. and Lucinda Ely Johnson :
Merrick E. Johnson, m. Louisa Mo- Johnson is a well-known business
reau, granddaughter of the pio- man of the city.
neer ' Thomas Rummage. Mr. Louisa Johnson, m. Major Charles H. Smith (recently deceased) .
Mrs. Smith has long been a useful society and club woman. She is a member of the Western Reserve Chapel D. A. R., state regent of the society, War of 1812, and assistant historian of the Woman's Department Cleveland Centennial Commission. Her three married daughters, cul- tured and charming women, reside near their mother.
1835
DILLON
(Organization of the Roman Catholic Church)
Although this city was settled mostly by New England people of Protestant proclivities, these were joined from time to time by a limited number of emigrants from Ireland, and occasionally from Germany, who sadly missed the services of the mother church in which they had been baptized and reared. These Catholic pioneers looked longingly forward to the time when they could worship God in the old accustomed way.
To them, in 1835, came a young missionary priest, the Rev. John Dil- lon, who organized a Catholic church. For a few years the society dupli- cated the early experiences of their Protestant brethren; holding services in private dwellings, school houses, or any place available. A little one- storied frame cottage on the west side of Erie street near Prospect shel- tered the society at one time.
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1835
TRACY
With the true missionary spirit, Father Dillon could not long rest contented under such conditions, and he began the struggle for a church building. He was aided in this by non-Catholics whose respect and good will he had gained. A visit to New York City in further search of funds yielded him about $1000 in gifts of ready money and of pledges.
But, alas! the devoted young priest did not live to see the consum- mation of his hopes and plans. He died in October, 1836, soon after his return from New York. It was a sudden and severe blow to his parish.
The Cleveland Advertiser of October 20, 1836, contained the follow- ing:
"The death of Father Dillon will be deeply felt by his bereaved and afflicted church. He was one of the first of our clergy in point of talent and piety, and though he labored in obscurity, yet he labored faithfully and well."
The Rev. John Dillon rests in Erie street cemetery, but a short dis- tance from the grave of the Rev. Stephen I. Bradstreet, first pastor of the Old Stone church.
The families connected with Father Dillon's parish were:
Detmer, Mathews, Alwell, Tuley, Wamelink, Lawler, Smith, Ffits- patrick, Duffy, Golden, Toole, McCarthy, Bryne, and Mulcahy.
Only the sir-names of the above could be ascertained.
1835
TRACY
James Jared Tracy, who died only recently, was, with but one excep- tion, the oldest citizen of Cleveland, had lived longest within the limits of the city. He came here in 1835, and remained a continuous resident of the town and city for 75 years. In all that time he was identified with its banking interests, as his first employment was in the Bank of Cleve- land, and he was a banker when he died. He saw the village incorpor- ated into a small city, and watched it expand and absorb all the towns adjoining-Ohio City, Brooklyn, Newburgh, Collamer, Glenville, with the residents of many other suburban ones spending all their business hours in the city as far east as Painesville, and Gates Mills; as far west as Elyria and Lorain; as far south as Bedford and Cuyahoga Falls.
His knowledge and experience in real-estate was greater, perhaps, than any other man in the city, for he had seen down-town property sell for a few dollars a lineal foot, and again for as much a square foot. When he came to Cleveland, there were yet many houses used for resi- dences west of the Square. On Water, Bank, and Seneca streets there were two or three stores near Superior street, but all the rest of their length clear to the lake were homes-homes of the rich and poor alike.
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1835
TRACY
Ontario street north and south of the Square was a fashionable resident street.
Euclid ave. had less than a dozen houses on its south side, and on the north side a little east of the site of the Williamson building stretched a pasture full of bushes and wild berry vines, and where horses and cows grazed. It ran back and down to the level of Superior street, and the old board fence that enclosed it on that side reached from near the present Superior entrance of the Arcade almost to Erie street.
Across this field, one evening, Mr. Tracy tried to make a short cut in order to head off some companions, and to arrive first at the home of some ladies upon whom the young men intended to call. The others went around by the Square. Mr. Tracy got mixed up with the blackberry bushes and tore his clothes, so that the tables were turned, and the joke was upon himself.
He was the son of Gardner Tracy of Connecticut, who married Cath- erine Lansing of Lansingburg, N. Y. Her father, Jacob Lansing, was the founder of that town. In 1823 Mr. and Mrs. Tracy removed to Utica, N. Y. Their son James began an active life at the age of 14, working in a store. His uncle and aunt, Alexander and Mrs. Seymour, and T. P. Handy removed to Cleveland, and he soon followed them. Both Mr. Sey- mour and Mr. Handy were officers of the Bank of Cleveland, and he was given the position of teller, a responsible one for a mere lad, showing that already he had established a reputation for honesty and ability.
He made his home for some years with his relatives, the Seymours, and afterward at fashionable private boarding-houses and hotels, until his marriage at the age of 64 to Miss Jane Foot, daughter of George A. Foot of Detroit, Mich.
Mr. Tracy had two sisters living in Cleveland for some years-Cath- erine, who married John E. Lyon, a prominent business man of this city, and Susan H., who married Asabel Barney of Otsego, N. Y., who also became identified with the commercial life of Cleveland. (His brother, D. W. Barney, married Azuba Latham, sister of Mrs. T. M. Kelley.)
Both were charming women, well bred, the kindest of neighbors, hos- pitable, and a great addition to the social life of the town. Long after their removal to New York City their years of residence in Cleveland were recalled by early friends here with expressions of the kindest appre- ciation and regard.
The home of James Tracy after his marriage was on Euclid ave., east of Erie street. Evidently, he did not share in the present belief that in the near future the avenue will be a distinctively business thoroughfare, as shortly before his death he built an elegant mansion only a few short blocks beyond his former home.
He was one of the members of the "Ark," a celebrated, early club of the city, composed of a few men having congenial tastes, and fond of books and sports. He was a quiet man, not given much to public enter- prises of any sort, but always ready to help when any demands were made upon him for charitable purposes, and he had a reputation for kindness and consideration in business matters. By birth and breeding he was a gentleman, and never forgot to be courteous.
His wife is much interested in educational and philanthropic work.
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1835
SKED
Her sister, Mrs. George A. Stanley, was a resident of the city many years, and during that time a well-known society lady.
The children of James J. and Jane Foote Tracy :
James Jared Tracy, m. Florence Comey.
Catherine Lansing Tracy, m. Lindsey Wallace.
1835
SKED
Alexander Sked, for long years a beloved deacon of the First Baptist church, was born in East Lowden, Scotland. He was the son of John and Jean Gray Sked of that town. He married Ann Roberts, at the age of 30, and they had eight children born to them. In 1831, when a little past 50 years of age, Mr. Sked with his wife and children crossed the ocean and started a new home in New York City. But circumstances were not as favorable there as he had hoped, and in 1835 he came to Cleveland.
He had been a gardener all his life thus far, and he continued the busi- ness here with good success. His three older sons were of age to be of considerable assistance to him in the work that he found awaiting him, for, about that time Cleveland was having a horticultural boom. Nathan Perry had started a large garden on Perry street, and the Rev. Elijah Willey, a Baptist clergyman, had laid out several acres of fruit-trees, vegetable and flower-beds on Woodland ave., corner of Erie street-East 9th-and Mr. Sked's skillful services must have been in much demand and greatly appreciated. There were many other smaller gardens scat- tered all over the town, though the flowers and fruit they contained were common varieties that had been divided and exchanged over and over again. Mrs. John Blair and Mrs. Duty had some choice floral treasures, and Gov. Reuben Wood and the Merwins, who had moved out on the Detroit Road, near Rocky River, had wonderful gardens for that day, as Mrs. Wood had spared no expense in collecting rare trees, shrubs and flowers. The Sked family lived west of the Old Stone Church, in a house facing the Square.
After Mr. Sked had started a greenhouse and nursery on Perry street, near Central ave., he removed to that locality, and at his death, in 1868, the business was carried on by his daughters, Jane and Margaret Sked, and continued for many years. Margaret, the last member of the family, died May, 1912, aged 86 years.
The Sked family was much esteemed, especially in the society of the First Baptist church, to which they had given loyalty and fealty when it was poor and struggling. They came to town just two years late to be charter members of it, but their long and complete identification with the
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1835
ST. JOHN
society made Deacon and Mrs. Sked regarded as its founders. Mrs. Sked passed away in 1861, full in honor and years.
The children of Alexander and Ann Roberts Sked:
Betsey Sked, m. Zebulon Jones, a brother of Mrs. Deacon Hamlin.
John Sked, m. Sarah Bartlett of New York. He removed to Michigan. William Sked, Jr., m. Stella Carey.
Alexander Sked, Jr., m. Elisabeth Cullen.
Susan Sked, m. Daniel Austen. Jane Sked, unmarried.
Margaret Sked, b. 1826; unmarried. Samuel Sked; moved to Westerville,
O., and married there.
The Sked family are interred in Woodland cemetery.
1835
ST. JOHN
Aruna St. John was nearly 50 years of age when he arrived in town with his family of five children, and later two Cleveland-born children were added to the household.
Mr. St. John was the son of Daniel and Abigail Holmes St. John of the noted Connecticut family of that name, one which members of it usu- ally pronounce "Sinjun." There were several of the Buffalo, N. Y., branch of the family living in the city at that time, distant cousins of Aruna St. John. He was a millwright and followed that occupation while residing here, a period of about 12 years.
He removed in 1850 to Richmond Mills, Ontario Co., N. Y., where he prospered in business. The family residence in this city was 58 Cham- plain street.
Mr. St. John was married twice. His first wife was a Miss Frost, and she may have been the mother of one or more of the older children. The second wife was Mary Sweet, who was about 42 years old when she came to this city. She died in Richmond Mills at the extreme age of 95 years.
The children of Aruna St. John :
Fanny St. John, m. Sylvester John- son.
Daniel St. John, m. Elverette Lewis. Hiram St. John, m. Lois Bacon.
Cornelius St. John, removed to Loui- siana.
George St. John, m. Delia Millard. Charles St. John.
Edwin R. St. John, m. Elisabeth Hennshett.
533
1835
UNDERHILL
The Cleveland Herald of April, 1835, contained the following an- nouncement :
"Dr. Samuel Underhill of Massillon, O., has associated with Dr. W. F. Otis for practice of medicine. Office-Union Block, cor. Superior and Union streets."
Dr. Otis was a conservative in theology as well as in medical lore, and to be associated with him inferred that his partner was a safe man both in theory and practice. Imagine then the shock to this Connecticut- bred, orthodox community when the newcomer was found to be a liberal- ist of extreme type.
Dr. Otis dissolved the partnership in haste, evidently, as both men oc- cupy separate offices in 1836, and who could blame him for refusing longer to share friends and patients with a man possessed of such revo- lutionary ideas concerning religion, and of moral and business ethics ?
For Dr. Underhill believed that the fixed order of things which gov- erned our community was faulty, and he openly criticised church-mem- bers who in their business transactions kept merely within the letter of the law.
Moreover, lacking an audience, perhaps, he started a weekly sheet in which he promulgated his queer doctrines. We may be sure that it was looked upon with horror, and tabooed in many a household. Its policy, as outlined on the printed page, would fail to startle or astonish the reader of today, whatever may have been the effect created in 1836. In- deed, the first item sounds strangly familiar.
"OPPOSED TO ALL MONOPOLIES.
"In favor of universal and equal opportunities for knowledge in early life for every child."
(This was before the day of public schools.)
"Teaches that virtue alone produces happiness.
That vice always produces misery.
That schoolmasters should be better qualified, and then should have higher wages.
That the producing classes are unjustly fleeced.
That nobles by wealth are as offensive to sound democracy as nobles by birth-both are base coin.
Discourages all pretension to spiritual knowledge.
That priests are a useless order of men."
"Inserts the other side of the question, when furnished in well-writ- ten articles."
Which shows that the doctor was as liberal as he professed. It would have been difficult in that day for him to secure a hearing in any other local publication.
Dr. Underhill must have been of middle age when he came to Cleve- land, as his son James Underhill was associated with him in the book and job-printing office, soon afterward established in Union Lane. The
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1835
UNDERHILL
publication of the "Liberist" was more a vehicle for expressing the doc- tor's advanced thought than a means of profit, while his professional practice must have been limited to patients who were in sympathy with his views.
Dr. Underhill was an ardent temperance worker. He pleaded for the cause through the "Liberist," and all through his life frequently gave temperance lectures. He had the best of company in this work while liv- ing in Cleveland, as many leading citizens of the town had started an ac- tive crusade against the liquor traffic.
Dr. Samuel Underhill was born on the Hudson river near Poughkeep- sie, N. Y. He was of old Knickerbocker stock, his ancestors having been early Dutch settlers of New York City. His parents were Quakers, and from them he acquired his independent habit of thought.
He married Debora Storey, who was also a Quakeress. Two of their children were born in New York State, and the third one in Massillon, where the family lived a short time before coming to Cleveland.
The sojourn covered a period of about ten years .* Some time in the '40s. Dr. Underhill removed to Tonica, La Salle Co., Illinois, where he engaged in farming, and where he died in 1874.
The children of Dr. Samuel and Debora Storey Underhill:
Eliza Underhill, m. William D. Hill James S. Underhill, m. Miss Wig- gins of Massillon, O.
of Portsmouth, N. H.
Mary Ann Underhill, m. 1st, Joseph Maria Underhill, adopted; m. Gen. Ross of Cleveland; 2nd, W. D. James Barnett. Hill.
Eliza Underhill Hill died 1858 on a farm in Putnam Co., Ill., and her sister, Mary Underhill, married Mr. Hill, after the death of Joseph Ross. Mary died in Cleveland. Her son, Norman L. Ross, is a civil war veteran, now living in Winnipeg, Canada.
James S. Underhill died early in 1875 at Tonica, Ill. His wife sur- vived him but a year or two.
The name Underhill seems to be connected, locally, at least, with the medical profession. There was a Dr. Underhill in La Grange, Ohio, and one in Huron County, who practiced medicine for 50 years or more. Dr. Samuel had a brother Isaac, and Dr. Abel Underhill was another brother.
*The family lived on Orange Alley, a popular resident street of that day, which eventually was remained "Johnson street."
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1835
RANNEY
Joseph Ranney was born in Middleton, Conn. He lost his mother when he was a young child, and experienced many hardships in consequence. He early learned the trade of making boots and shoes with the Sages, very prominent shoe-manufacturers of Rochester, N. Y. The appren- tices who served their time with Mr. Sage received kind and fair treat- ment.
Joseph Ranney came to Cleveland with Sylvester Ranney, also a boot and shoe-maker, doing business in 1836 at number 10 Superior Lane. The family lived at that time on Orange Alley-Johnson street.
Mr. Joseph Ranney was a deacon and very prominent in the church to which he belonged.
He married Lucina Fox, a lovely character, to whom a large circle of friends were much attached. She died aged 77 years, having outlived her husband 13 years. They both rest in Lake View cemetery.
There were but two children that lived to maturity in this family- Mary Ranney, who died at the age of 30, and Sarah J. Ranney, who re- sides in E. 89th Place.
1835 RAYMOND
Samuel and Henry Raymond, brothers, born in Bethlehem, Conn., arrived in Cleveland in 1835.
Henry became a book-keeper at D. Russell's dry-goods store in the Kellogg building.
Samuel had been married two years previously to Miss Mary North, daughter of James North of New Britain, Conn. The North family had lived for generations in that town.
Mr. Samuel Raymond engaged in the dry-goods business. His first store, a little wooden building, stood on the site of the present Rouse block. His partners were Henry W. and Marvin Clark, and the firm was known as "Clark, Raymond & Clark." This retail store finally grew into a wholesale business, and under Mr. Raymond's name became known all over northern Ohio.
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