USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The pioneer families of Cleveland 1796-1840 Vol. II > Part 9
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Joseph Sargeant, born 1798, kept the only store of its kind in Cleve- land. He manufactured and sold looking-glasses, picture-frames, etc., and he, and his son John, who succeeded him for over half a century, furnished to thousands of people their only glimpse of art in the beautiful engravings kept in stock or exhibited in their store-windows.
"Sargeants" on Superior street was so associated with that thorough- fare that it seemed to be as established as the street itself, and many an old resident of the city today finds it hard to realize that the old land- mark and business-sign have passed out of existence.
Joseph Sargeant married Sophrona Chapman, daughter of Erastus Chapman. She died in 1826, leaving young children.
He married secondly, Laura Brooks (daughter of Zerah Brooks of Hartford, Vt.)
Laura Brooks Sargeant was a remarkable woman in many respects, an ideal step-mother, loving and cherishing the first wife's children as her very own. They never knew she was not their own mother until after they began to attend school when they were officiously enlightened upon the subject. She died in 1873 at her residence on Ontario street, aged 67 years.
Joseph Sargeant lived first on Erie street next to the present Cleve- land Trust Co., and for many years was the only resident on that side of
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the street between Euclid and Prospect. In 1837 he was living on Pros- pect near Ontario street, and finally built and occupied a brick residence on Ontario street below St. Clair st.
Joseph Sargeant and his wife were life-long members of the Old Stone church, and their son John and his family followed closely in their footsteps, and today are still identified with that church society.
The children of Joseph and Sophrona Sargeant:
Catherine Maria Sargeant, m. W. T.
Richmond, son of Thomas Rich- mond.
Harriet S. Sargeant, m. C. A. Orvis of Racine, Wisconsin.
Charles Edward Sargeant, m. Mary Bowen, dau. of Graham Bowen.
John Williams Sargeant, m. Emma Louise Todd, a very pretty, intel- ligent woman, devoted to her hus- band and children. Her recent death made many friends sorrow- ful.
The family burial-lot is in Erie street cemetery.
1834
SLAGHT
Abraham Slaght and his wife, Talphena Dickerson Slaght, settled first on the Euclid ridge. They removed to the corner of St. Clair and East Madison avenues, where they lived many years and where they died. Their home was then a farmhouse, surrounded by many acres.
There were two sons in this family, and six daughters. The latter all married into prominent families of the East End.
The children of Abraham and Talphena Slaght:
Adaline Slaght, m. Timothy Wat- kins.
Louise Slaght, m. George Watkins. Sarah Slaght, m. Francis Branch.
Elisabeth Slaght, m. Abram Nott. Martha Slaght, m. Henry Ford. Julia Slaght, m. Nathan Post.
1834
SMITH
Archibald M. C. Smith, of the firm of Ward & Smith, forwarding and commission merchants at No. 1 and 2 Dock st., lived at 62 Bank street, just north of the Blairs.
Mrs. Smith was the daughter of Seth and Sarah (Barnum) Granger of Danbury, Conn., who removed to Buffalo, N. Y., and died in that city. she in 1833, and he in 1848.
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1834
SCOFIELD
There were three Granger sisters living in Cleveland in 1834.
Beulah-Mrs. Smith, Harriet Maria-Mrs. William Smyth, and Sarah Elisabeth Granger. They were very attractive, cultured women; they were also quite musical, and two of them were members of Trinity Church choir.
Mr. and Mrs. Archibald M. C. Smith had a family of seven children.
Maria Granger Smith, m. Edward Granger Smith, living in Chicago.
Edward Smith, a resident of St. of Erie, Pa.
M. Atwater. Lives in Buffalo. Amelia Smith-Mrs. D. D. Tracey Paul, Minn.
The Smiths removed from Bank street to St. Clair st., near Perry, and for some years were the near neighbors of the Perrys and Paynes. They then removed to Buffalo, where, in 1852, Mr. Smith was killed while rescuing lives at a big fire in that city. No man was more respected in the communities in which he lived than was Mr. Archibald Smith. His widow survived him for twenty-five years.
1834
SCOFIELD
William Scofield of Strongsville, O., married Mary Coon, daughter of Mathew and Albacinda Coon, and moved from a farm into the village of Cleveland.
The first home of the young couple was on Bank street, now the site of the big Root & McBride building. In 1844 Mr. Scofield built a home on Erie street between Euclid and Prospect streets, where the family lived for 18 years. About the time of the civil war, they took charge of Prospect Place, a family hotel on the corner of Euclid and Erie streets. Mr. Scofield died not long afterward, but his wife continued in charge of it for many years. This site with that of their former home is now oc- cupied by the Scofield Building.
Mrs. Mary Coon Scofield joined the First Baptist church in 1834, only a year after its organization. She counted scores of friends in that pio- neer religious society, friends who remained staunch and true until her death in 1892.
Mr. and Mrs. Scofield rest in Lake View cemetery. They had five children, the first three of whom died young.
Levi Scofield, m. Elisabeth Wright, a very charming young woman, daughter of Marshall Wright of Kingsville, O. (Died recently.) Mary E. Scofield, m. Alfred S. Field of Columbus, O., son of John Field.
Levi Scofield has always been an active man of affairs in the city, and his wife was a member of musical circles and a patron of undeveloped musical ability.
Mrs. Mary Scofield Fields belongs to the Western Reserve Daughters of the American Revolution.
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1834
SACKRIDER
Elijah White, Jr., father of Mrs. Samuel and Mrs. Amos S. Hutchin- son, was a prominent merchant of Granville, Mass., who removed to Plattsburgh, N. Y., and engaged in manufacturing. He was married twice. His first wife was Olive Cone, and one of their children was
Pamelia White, born 1799. She married, in 1819, Robert Sackrider of Plattsburgh, N. Y., who died in 1826. Mrs. Pamelia White-Sackrider came to Cleveland with her children, and after the death of her half-sister, Har- riet E. Hutchinson, kept house for Mr. Hutchinson and his two motherless children until after his second marriage.
Mrs. Sackrider had three children:
Mary Sackrider, b. 1820; died 1842. Elijah White Sackrider, b. 1825. He Cornelia Sackrider, b. 1822 ; married Mr. Pease of Detroit. was long years a Cleveland drug- gist.
Edward Griffin White, a brother of Mrs. Samuel and Mrs. Amos E. Hutchinson, lived in Cleveland in the '30s, and died here in 1849, aged 34 years.
1834
WHITING
William B. Whiting, 34 years of age, removed with his family from Laurens, Otsego Co., New York, to Grafton, Lorain Co., Ohio, some time in the early '30s.
He was the son of Gamaliel B. Whiting of Lenox, Mass. His mother, before her marriage, was a Miss Mary Dismore. She died, aged 74 years, while her son was living in Grafton, and was buried there. Some years afterward it was thought best to remove her remains to the Judge Sam- uel Cowles lot in Erie street cemetery, and while doing this it was dis- covered that her body had petrified solidly, and it was with great diffi- culty lifted from the grave. As in similar cases, no decomposition had taken place, and she had the appearance of one sleeping.
William B. Whiting was educated for the law, but had little inclina- tion to practice his profession. While in Grafton he lived on a farm, but in the course of a few years removed to Cleveland, and finally returned east where, in Corning, N. Y., he spent the rest of his days, a prominent citizen of that town. He was for some years its postmaster, and later became the auditor of an eastern railroad.
Mr. Whiting married, in 1833, Miss Emily Bostwick of Laurens. The couple had seven children live to maturity, only three of whom married.
Mr. Whiting's sister Cornelia had become the wife of Judge Samuel Cowles in 1832, and came at once to Cleveland. She lived here the re- maining years of her life, and some of her brother's children also resided in the city long years after their parents had returned east to live.
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1834
WILLIAMS
Either in boyhood or in his college days, Mr. Whiting became inti- mately associated with Sherlock J. Andrews, who afterward became a distinguished lawyer and judge of this city. The latter seems to have been greatly attached to Mr. Whiting, as he named his only son, William Whiting Andrews, in honor of his friend.
The children of William B. and Emily Bostwick Whiting:
Dr. Samuel C. Whiting, married Emily Caddington (daughter of a well-known western editor.) Dr. Whiting became a distinguished Homeopathic physician of La Porte, Indiana.
Edmund R. Whiting. Lives in Kirt- land, O., unmarried.
Cornelia Whiting. Died at the resi- dence of her brother in Kirtland, unmarried.
Hiram B. Whiting. Died in young manhood.
William Whiting. Died in young manhood.
John Whiting. Enlisted during the civil war, and served his country. Died unmarried.
Helen M. Whiting, married Thomp- son H. Johnson, youngest son of Chilton and Margaret Ohaber Johnson of Vincennes, Ind., and long a well-known member of the Cleveland bar.
Helen Whiting Johnson died in 1909, and rests in Lake View ceme- tery. She left a daughter who, with her father, spends part of each year in California. Mrs. Johnson and her sister, Cornelia Whiting, were both fine women, exceedingly kind-hearted and benevolent, and greatly loved by their family and friends.
Two children of Dr. Samuel C. Whiting reside in this city. William B. Whiting, a lawyer, and with the firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey.
His sister, Sarah Whiting, married George Hart of Vincennes, Ind., and removed to Cleveland. Mr. Hart is treasurer of the Guardian Sav- ings and Trust Company.
1834
WILLIAMS
George Williams, an older brother of William Williams, a well-known pioneer of a little later day, settled in Cleveland as early as 1834, and car- ried on the business of private banking and brokerage. He was associated with Grant Fitch of Cleveland, under the firm name of Williams and Fitch, until the latter's death in 1840, and later on, for a time, with Zal- mon Fitch, father of above, under the firm name of "George Williams & Co."
George and William Williams were the sons of Ebenezer and Martha Porter Williams, of East Windsor, Conn., and grandsons of Samuel and Margaret Huntington Williams, of Groton, Conn.
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Their maternal grandfather, Nathaniel Porter, who was of the fifth generation from John of Windsor, marched to Boston as a Minute man on the Lexington Alarm.
George Williams was but 12 years of age when his parents left Con- necticut in 1811, and settled in the wilds of Lake county, consequently his educational advantages were few. But his subsequent career indi- cates that in common with all other members of his father's family, he did not allow circumstances to mar his life in the least, nor hinder it from being all that through a heritage of brains and courage was his.
He remained a bachelor until 45 years of age, and then, in 1844, mar- ried Mary Baldwin, widow of his late partner, Grant Fitch.
Mrs. Williams had a little daughter, Mary Grant Fitch, who grew to womanhood in the Williams household, which, for many years, was sheltered in the quaint pioneer dwelling, formerly known as the Dunham Tavern. It still stands on the north side of Euclid Ave., between East 66th and 69th streets, and is occupied by Dr. J. A. Stephens. Later the family lived on the north-east corner of Euclid and E. 46th street.
George Williams was a resident of Cleveland for 55 years, dying in 1889, aged 90.
The only child of George and Martha Baldwin Williams was a daugh- ter, Martha Candace Williams, who married Edward Hooker Harvey. Their only child, Melanie Harvey, married Edward Kirke Cushing of Cleveland.
1834
MACKENSIE
"Mackensie's Drug Store," Number 100 Superior street, has been a landmark of the city for 75 years or more, its location still a drug-store, owned by Strong & Cobb.
"Mackensie's Liver Pills," once known all over the country as a rem- edy for malaria, are yet to be found on druggists' shelves.
The originator of the store and the pills was Dr. Colin Swayne Mack- ensie, physician and chemist, who, in 1834, came to this town from Bal- timore, Md. He was then 24 years of age, the son of Dr. John Mackensie, a celebrated physician and a founder of the St. Andrew's Society.
His mother was Sarah Pinkerton, of Chester, Pa.
The Baltimore Mackensies were direct descendants of Kenneth, High Chief of Kentare, Scotland. Their first American ancestor was Thomas Mackensie, who came to this country in 1746, married the daughter of Governor Johnson of Maryland, and settled in that state as a planter.
The memory of Dr. Colin S. Mackensie, the Cleveland pioneer, is still treasured by several of our present citizens, who in their youth were as- sociated with him either as pupils or as clerks in his drug-store. To these, and to others, who seem to know nothing of the good doctor's ante- cedents, it may be of interest to learn that he was one of five brothers,
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all university graduates and all physicians, who acquired distinction in their several lines of work and practice.
Dr. John P. Mackensie was super- intendent of the Maryland Hos- pital.
Dr. Thomas G. Mackensie was a founder of the Maryland School of Pharmacy.
Dr. George B. Mackensie was one of the staff of the State Children's Hospital.
Dr. James S. Mackensie was a suc- cessful practitioner.
There were also two sisters, one of whom married Richard Free- bourne, and the other Joseph Cushing, well-known citizens of Baltimore.
Dr. Colin S. Mackensie was a prominent member of the Old Stone church, and, like all Scotch Presbyterians, he was a theologian. In ques- tions of doctrine that occasionally arose in the congregation, he was ever a member to be reckoned with and considered. Upon rare occasions he showed his disapproval of a pulpit utterance by leaving the church in the middle of a sermon.
But withal he was a very kindly man; always prompt in personal service or with gifts of money when either was required. He maintained the old school of manners, polite, punctilious, dignified, considerate, a person upon whom none would dare to presume, and yet turn to for pro- tection or pity.
The death of his wife, in 1846, was a blow from which he never re- covered. Her headstone, with its pathetic inscription, "She died, and yet I live," can be found in Erie street cemetery, to the right of the main drive.
She was Emily J. Vallette, a widow, and the daughter of John and Rosalind McMahan Quin. She was born in Buenos Ayres, Argentine Republic, and at her second marriage, in 1836, was but 18 years of age, and only 28 at the time of her death.
The home of Dr. Mackensie was Number 32 Water street, in those days a most attractive location, commanding a beautiful view of the lake. Their nearest neighbors were the Alexander Seymour and J. G. Stockley families.
After Mrs. Mackensie's death, the doctor, with his two young children, boarded at the residence of an intimate friend, Mrs. Benjamin Andrews.
His only son, Colin Mackensie, Jr., born 1839, was true to family tra- dition, and entered the medical profession. He was a surgeon at Camp Chase during the civil war, and afterward in the U. S. Army. He died in New York City at the age of 53. His wife, to whom he was married in 1863, was Miss Ellen Tolford, of Troy, N. Y., daughter of Rev. David Tolford, of Vermont, and Priscilla Waring, of Maryland. Colin, Jr., had one son, Colin 3rd, born 1871, who lives in New York.
Dr. Colin Mackensie's only daughter, Emily Louise Mackensie, b. 1844, married William Furgeson, of Glasgow, Scotland, who died in that city, 1895. They had one child, Colin Mackensie Furgeson, who resides in New York.
Dr. Colin Mackensie died in New York City at the home of his son in 1894, aged 84 years.
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1834
WHITTLESEY
Asaph Whittlesey, aged 32 years, and his wife, Vesta Hart Whittle- sey, aged 24, started with their two little sons, Charles and Samuel, from Southington, Conn., in 1813, to make their home in Tallmadge, O. The seriousness of such an undertaking was recognized by the whole village turning out to bid them "Godspeed."
Their equipment was of the best, two horses and a big, roomy farm- wagon. They took the southern route by way of Philadelphia and Pitts- burgh, mountains and steep hills nearly every mile of the journey. Be- tween Beaver Dam and Pittsburgh an accident to their team nearly cost them their lives, and so injured Mrs. Whittlesey, that she never wholly recovered from it. The wagon ran off a steep incline in the road, and, turning completely over, imprisoned her and the children under it. The situation was made more serious by the baggage that nearly filled the wagon. With a superhuman effort Mr. Whittlesey managed to raise one side, and drag his family out from under it, and a box that held Mrs. Whittlesey down.
The last days of the journey were made in a drizzling rain-storm, and when, wet, tired, and bruised, they entered their dreary cabin, standing on the edge of a swamp, the disheartened young mother gave way to her tears.
But she was a brave little woman, who soon rallied and "made the best of it." How little we realize today just what this term meant then, and many years to follow!
For instance, once in entertaining some neighbors to a little tea- party, the table was found too small to seat all the guests. Mrs. Whit- tlesey quietly withdrew to an upper room and pried up a wide board in its floor, with which she enlarged the table.
Mr. Whittlesey was a man of unusual courage and resource. He had many drawbacks from prosperity. In assisting a neighbor to raise a house, he was hit by a falling beam, and crippled for life, yet, in spite of all, this couple raised a family, four charming daughters, besides the sons, who were an honor to the name of Whittlesey.
Especially was this true of Col. Charles Whittlesey, soldier, lawyer, editor, geologist, author and scientist, whom the city of Cleveland proudly claims, and justly honors.
By some good fortune his father secured for him a cadetship at West Point, which meant a liberal education. After his graduation he was stationed as second lieutenant at Mackinac and Green Bay. Meantime, he studied law, for we find him in 1836, as "an attorney and counsellor," at No. 16 Superior st. At the same time he is co-editor and publisher, with his second cousin, Frederick Whittlesey, of the Cleveland Herald and Gazette. Then he sold out to become a government geologist, ex- plored Lake Superior and the Mississippi basin.
Cleveland became indebted to him through the first history of the city published, on which he probably lost money, and he assisted the municipality by enlisting the aid of the national government in neces- sary harbor improvements.
His literary work was prolific. It is said to have comprised 191 his- torical, archæological, geological, scientific, and religious treatises.
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RUSSELL
Mr. Whittlesey remained a bachelor until 50 years of age. He then married Mrs. Mary E. Morgan, daughter of James and Ann Forman Lyon.
Mr. Whittlesey suffered much with rheumatism during the last years of his life, but his energy and enthusiasm would not allow it to shelve him and his many activities. Among these was the Western Reserve Histori- cal Society, of which he was a founder and its first president. He died in 1886.
1834
REMINGTON
There are headstones in Erie street cemetery that indicate the early residence in this city of a family of New England ancestry named Rem- ington.
Two members of it were still living here in 1856, and a third one, Stephen G. Remington.
The inscriptions on the stones are very unusual, as, in each one, the wife's maiden name is inscribed.
"Benjamin Remington, b. 1770- died 1835.
Mary East Remington, his wife, 1770-1867.
Their son Joseph Remington, 1803- 1834.
John G. Remington, their son, 1797 -1863.
Nancy Adams Remington, wife of above, 1803-1829.
Marilla Penfield Remington, wife of above, 1800-1840.
Eliza Ann Remington, dau. of John G. and Nancy, 1823-1834."
The two members of the family who died in 1834 may have been cholera victims.
Stephen G. Remington was a member of the Old Settlers' Associa- tion. He gave his record of birth 1828, and came here in 1834.
1834
RUSSELL
On September 1st, 1813, occurred a typical New England wedding, that of Alanson Russell and Miss Nancy Caulkins. Both represented long lines of American ancestry. He was the son of John Russell, a revolutionary soldier, and the great-grandson of William and Elisabeth
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RUSSELL
Russell, who were living in this country 100 years before its declaration of independence. His mother was Martha Thrall.
Nancy Caulkins was born in Sharon, and a member of a Connecticut family that bore upon its lineage tree doctors and divines, lawyers and patriots galore.
The couple were very young, for the bride was still in her teens, the groom but recently able to answer "20 years" as his age.
There was nothing unusual in this. The founding of a home and of a family held no terrors for the young people of that period. They did not dream of beginning their married life under the conditions in which they had been reared, the rambling, many-roomed homestead with its solid Colonial furnishings and its assured comfort.
The newly married expected to live modestly, labor industriously, and to acquire slowly the degree of living that their parents in equal manner had attained. Their first home was the center one of the three cottages on Superior street where the Arcade now stands: on one side the Camps, on the other the Sackriders. Nancy Caulkins Russell must have been a beau- tiful bride, for, in middle age, she was an unusually attractive woman, and was still fair to look upon when her head was crowned with silver.
Alanson Russell was born in Rodman, Jefferson Co. At that time, 1834, he had several children, the oldest of whom was 17 years old. The family lived at 35 Water street, where Mr. Russell kept a small private hotel where young couples tarried until ready for housekeeping on their own account, and where unattached business and professional men found a home not obtainable elsewhere. Among the latter, in 1837, were David Hersh uncle of Mrs. William Bingham, Henry Raymond, A. B. Hitch- cock, and S. A. Fairchild, merchants, and two or three bank clerks.
Mr. Russell lived but four years after his arrival in Cleveland. It may have been declining health and the hope of regaining it that led him to seek a new home in the west. Were that the case, it proved fallacious, for he died in the prime of life, 45 years, and was laid away in old Erie street cemetery, and in 1865, Nancy Caulkins Russell, who outlived him 27 years, was placed beside him.
The children of Alanson and Nancy Russell :
George H. Russell, b. 1817; died Chester C. Russell, d. Princeton, Ill. Clarinda Russell, m. John Shelley. See Shelley family sketch.
1888; m. Octavia Bolton. Russell Ave., now changed to East 70th street, received its name from him.
Emmeline Russell, m. S. A. Fair- child ; 2nd, Thomas Bolton.
Mr. and Mrs. Alanson Russell left little property to their family. But they passed on to grandchildren their own inheritance, one more highly prized by many people than a bank-account, and which opened wide to them the doors of the Society of Huguenots, Colonial Dames, and Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution.
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1834
WHITTLESEY
Frederick and Charles Whittlesey, whose fathers were cousins, be- came joint owners and editors of the Cleveland Herald in 1836. They were the lineal descendants of John and Ruth Dudley Whittlesey of Saybrook, Conn., 1664, and were both born in Southington, Conn., Fred- erick in 1801, and Charles in 1808.
The former was the son of Roger Whittlesey, a Yale College gradu- ate in the class of 1787. His mother was Mary Smalley, daughter of Rev. John Smalley, D. D.
With such a mental heritage, it is not surprising that Frederick Whit- tlesey also graduated from Yale at 21 years of age. He then came west and studied law with Elisha Whittlesey, a relative living in Canfield, O., and long a congressman of the Western Reserve.
In 1827 he began the practice of his profession in Elyria, O., and at once rapidly rose to prominence and distinction. He was early chosen to represent his district in the Ohio legislature both as congressman and senator. At one time, he was Speaker of the House, and it is said that his dignity and decision while in the chair, and his familiarity with par- liamentary rules won the admiration of the legislature.
In his 34th year he removed to Cleveland and established a newspaper which he discontinued in order to become part owner and editor of the Cleveland Herald. He was a man of unusual ability, one whom his neigh- bors and friends respected and esteemed, an upright, honorable, Chris- tian gentleman.
In 1840, while in the very prime of life, he was stricken with a form of paralysis, that for 14 years crippled him in all endeavor, and some- times made him helpless. This terrible affliction was borne patiently and cheerfully. He died in 1854.
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